Fighting in Syria

Rebel advance: Iran and Russia extremely concerned

Unexpected lightning offensive by Syrian rebels

(Bild: APA/AFP/Abdulaziz KETAZ)

Eight years ago, the army was able to recapture the city of Aleppo in northern Syria from the rebels. Now the Islamists are back and spreading further with a lightning offensive. The Syrian branch of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its allies now control most of the city. Iran and Russia are extremely concerned about the latest escalation and see the USA as the mastermind.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the army of ruler Bashar al-Assad has withdrawn from the airport on the south-eastern outskirts of Aleppo. The jihadists have now taken control there. The information provided by the UK-based Observatory (OSDH), which has a network of various sources in Syria, is difficult to verify independently. It is therefore the first time that the jihadist rebels have taken control of such a facility in the civil war country.

Syria expert: "An absolute collapse"
In addition, the fighters now control "dozens" of strategically important locations in the provinces of Idlib and Hama, the report continued. They had encountered "no resistance whatsoever" during their advance there, the Observatory explained. Syria expert Charles Lister wrote on X that it seemed quite possible that the opposition forces could capture a large part of the provinces of Hama and Aleppo within the next 24 hours.

 He described the current developments as an "earthquake" in the 14 years of the Syrian civil war. President Assad looks more vulnerable than ever before. "An absolute collapse," wrote Lister. In Aleppo, "government centers and prisons" are now under the control of the jihadists, the Observatory stated. Iran stated that "armed terrorist groups" had attacked the embassy there, but that the staff were safe.

After his army was driven out, an Islamist rebel in Aleppo dismantled a poster of President Bashar al-Assad.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Mohammed AL-RIFAI)

Iran sees "plan by Israel and the USA"
The Iranian and Russian leaders, who are among Assad's allies, expressed extreme concern about the latest escalation. The joint efforts to stabilize the situation in Syria must now be intensified, they said after a joint telephone conversation between the foreign ministers of the two states, Sergei Lavrov and Abbas Araqchi. According to Iranian state media, the latter said in the phone call that the rebel attacks were part of a "plan by the USA and Israel to destabilize the region". The Iranian chief diplomat will travel to Syria on Sunday and then to Turkey. The government in Ankara is on the side of the rebels in the Syrian civil war.

The surprise attack by the Islamist group HTS is the most serious in years in the Syrian civil war, in which the fronts have been largely frozen since 2020. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and many millions displaced in the war, which has been going on since 2011. Most major fighting stopped years ago after Iran and Russia helped Assad regain control of most of the country and all major cities.