What’s happening in Aleppo? What we know about sudden rebel gains in Syria’s 13-year war and why it matters
Russia and Syrian warplanes launch strikes as insurgents seize Aleppo in shock advance
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The 13-year civil war in Syria has roared back into prominence as insurgents seized Aleppo in a shock offensive marking a major threat to president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime.
The push – which saw insurgents seize the country’s second-largest city – is among the strongest in years, in a war whose destabilising effects have rippled far beyond Syria’s borders, but whose front lines have been largely frozen since 2020.
It marks the first opposition attack on Aleppo since 2016, when a brutal air campaign by Russian warplanes helped Syrian president Bashar al-Assad retake the city. Interventions by Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and others have allowed him to remain in power within the parts of Syria under his control.
Here is a look at some of the key aspects of the new fighting:
What’s the latest?
As the fighting continued on Sunday, the Syrian militant sent in reinforcements in a bid to stop the insurgents from advancing further into countryside around Hama, a city they claimed to have also entered and which is situated just 30 miles from Homs to the south, in the direction of Damascus.
The insurgents are led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has emerged as the Syrian opposition’s most formidable military force, with Turkish-backed secular armed groups also reportedly involved.
The Syrian government said it created a “strong defensive line” in in Taybat Al-Imam city and towns in the northern countryside of Hama, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that the army had pushed back insurgents overnight by sending in heavy reinforcements.
Russian and Syrian jets were reported to be bombing rebel positions in Idlib and northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, with independent war monitors saying dozens of civilians had been killed.
The SOHR said a series of airstrikes by Russian fighter jets at the entrance of the University Hospital in Aleppo city had killed 12 people and 23 others.
Rebel commander Colonel Hassan Abdulghani said the insurgents advanced in the countryside around Idlib, putting all of the province of the same name under their control. This could not be independently confirmed.
Military vehicles abandoned by Syrian troops dotted the roads in Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province as people posed and took pictures atop an abandoned tank on a highway.
What implications could the insurgency have?
The surge in fighting has raised the prospect of another violent front reopening in the Middle East, at a time when US-backed Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza, and having just announced a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, both of which are Iranian-allied groups.
Western governments have called for restraint and de-escalation with US, UK, France and Germany saying they are following the situation closely.
The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, warned that escalating situation poses “severe risks to civilians and [has] serious implications for international peace and security”.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the US is watching the situation carefully.
He said the rebel group is designated a terrorist organisation by the US, and Washington has “real concerns about the designs and objectives of that organisation.”
“At the same time, of course, we don’t cry over the fact that the Assad government, backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, are facing certain kinds of pressure,” he added.
Robert Ford, the last-serving US ambassador to Syria, pointed to Israel’s ceasefire with Hezbollah after months of Israeli strikes on Syrian and Hezbollah targets as factors providing Syria’s rebels with the opportunity to advance.
Mr Assad has been at war with opposition forces seeking his overthrow for 13 years, in a conflict which has claimed an estimated 500,000 lives. Some 6.8 million Syrians have fled the country over the course of the war, mostly resettling in Turkey. Nearly 1.3 million people have been granted protection in EU countries, as of last year.
The roughly 30 per cent of the country not held by Mr Assad is controlled by a range of opposition forces and foreign troops. The US has around 900 troops in northeast Syria, far from Aleppo, to guard against a resurgence by the Islamist terror group Isis.
Both the US and Israel conduct occasional strikes in Syria against government forces and Iran-allied militias. Turkey has forces in Syria as well, and has influence with the broad alliance of opposition forces storming Aleppo.
The new push comes after years with few sizeable changes in territory between Syria’s warring parties, and “has the potential to be really quite, quite consequential and potentially game-changing”, if Syrian government forces prove unable to hold their ground, said Charles Lister of the US-based Middle East Institute.
The question of whether or not Isis fighters see the offensive as an opening is among the risks raised by the development, Mr Lister said.
Mr Ford said the latest eruption of fighting could become more broadly destabilising if it drew Russia and Turkey – each with its own interests to protect in Syria – into direct heavy fighting against each other.
What do we know about the group leading the insurgency?
The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organisation.
Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, emerged as the leader of al-Qaida’s Syria branch in 2011, in the first months of Syria’s war. His fight was an unwelcome intervention to many in Syria’s opposition, who hoped to keep the fight against Mr Assad’s brutal rule untainted by violent extremism.
Mr Golani early on claimed responsibility for deadly bombings, pledged to attack Western forces and sent religious police to enforce modest dress by women.
He has sought to refashion himself in recent years, renouncing his al-Qaida ties in 2016, disbanding his religious police force, cracking down on extremist groups in his territory, and portraying himself as a protector of other religions, including by allowing the city of Idlib’s first Christian Mass in years.
What is the history of Aleppo in the war?
At the crossroads of trade routes and empires for thousands of years, Aleppo is one of the centres of commerce and culture in the Middle East.
Aleppo was home to 2.3 million people prior to the war breaking out in 2011. Rebels seized the east side of the city in 2012, and it became the proudest symbol of the advance of armed opposition factions.
In 2016, government forces backed by Russian airstrikes laid siege to the city. Russian shells, missiles and crude barrel bombs – fuel canisters or other containers loaded with explosives and metal – methodically leveled neighbourhoods. Starving and under siege, rebels surrendered Aleppo that year.
The Russian military's entry was the turning point in the war, allowing Assad to stay on in the territory he held.
This year, Israeli airstrikes in Aleppo have hit Hezbollah weapons depots and Syrian forces, among other targets, according to an independent monitoring group. Israel rarely acknowledges strikes at Aleppo and other government-held areas of Syria.