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Insurgents breach Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo, fighters and a war monitor say

29 November 2024 19:17 (UTC +04:00)

Insurgents breached Syria’s second-largest city Aleppo after blowing up two car bombs on Friday and were clashing with government forces on the city’s western edge, according to a Syria war monitor and fighters, APA reports citing Associated Press.

It was the first time the city has been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when they were ousted from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.

Witnesses in Aleppo city said residents have been fleeing neighborhoods on the western edge of the city because of missiles and exchanges of fire. The government did not comment on insurgents breaching city limits.

Syria’s Armed Forces said in a statement Friday it has been clashing with insurgents in the countryside around Aleppo and Idlib, destroying several of their drones and heavy weapons. It vowed to repel the attack and accused the insurgents of spreading false information about their advances.

Thousands of insurgents have been advancing toward Aleppo city since a shock offensive they launched on Wednesday, seizing several towns and villages along the way.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the insurgents blew up two car bombs at the city’s western edge on Friday.

An insurgent commander issued a recorded message posted on social media calling on the city’s residents to cooperate with the advancing forces.

Türkiye's Anadolu Agency reported that the opposition insurgents entered Aleppo city center Friday. It said the insurgents “broke through the defense lines of the regime forces along the Hamdaniyya, New Aleppo, and Zahra axis on the outskirts of the city.”

It added the insurgents now control approximately 70 locations in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

Syria’s state media reported earlier Friday that projectiles from insurgents landed in the student accommodations at Aleppo’s university in the city center, killing four people, including two students. Public transportation to the city had also been diverted from the main highway linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus to avoid clashes, the report said.

Fighters also advanced on the town of Saraqab, in northwestern Idlib province, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.

This week’s advances were one of the largest by opposition factions, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, and comes after weeks of low simmering violence. It is most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.

Syria’s Armed Forces said the insurgents are violating a 2019 agreement that de-escalated fighting in the area, which has been the last remaining opposition stronghold for years.

The war monitor Observatory said dozens of fighters from both sides have been killed in the battles that started Wednesday. The insurgents have seized control of more than 50 villages in their advance, which seem to have caught the government forces unprepared.