In A Surprise Offensive, Insurgents Breach Syria's Aleppo

(MENAFN- AzerNews) The rebels have pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed Syrian government since Wednesday, the same day a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah group, a Damascus ally, after two months of all-out war, Azernews reports via foreign media.

"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions... took control of most of the city and government centres and prisons", said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

HTS, a jihadist alliance led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, controls swathes of the Idlib region, in Syria's northwest, as well as parts of neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces.

Overnight, Russian "warplanes launched raids on areas of Aleppo city for the first time since 2016", added the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

It raised the death toll in days of clashes to 311 -- 183 from HTS and allied Turkish-backed factions, 100 soldiers and pro-government forces, as well as 28 civilians.

State media reported that four civilians were killed when HTS shelled a student residence in Aleppo, a city of around two million people that was Syria's pre-war manufacturing hub.

Iran-backed militias have a heavy presence in the Aleppo region after providing crucial ground support when the Syrian army -- backed by Russian air power -- recaptured rebel-held areas of the city in 2016.

MENAFN30112024000195011045ID1108941171