The situation in Syria’s Aleppo province is rapidly deteriorating, with militants seizing settlements, military bases and arsenals left by the retreating army, according to Arab media.
On Monday, the Syrian army, backed by Russian air force, eliminated at least 100 militants in Idlib, Hama and Aleppo provinces, local media reported. However, Moscow would not fully intervene in the Syrian conflict as Russian troops were focused on fighting in the Kursk region and eastern Ukraine, experts said.
Kurds reportedly lost their positions in the north and were pulling out to Manbij and further across the Euphrates, whereas the militants captured Aleppo and Idlib and continued to advance towards Damascus.
On 27 November, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants deployed in northern Syria suddenly went on the offensive, seizing the country’s second largest city, Aleppo. In just a few days, the rebels took control of 400 square kilometres of territory, including key transport hubs.
The new phase of the conflict came a day after the ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect. Experts believed that the rebels took advantage of the fact that Hezbollah was exhausted after serious strikes by the Israel Defence Forces on its infrastructure and the physical destruction of its leadership.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s power may now be threatened, as Hezbollah has been one of his most powerful allies. Charlie Winter, a Syria expert and director of ExTrac, a UK-based risk intelligence platform, said the attack was not a surprise.
Everyone watching Syria knows it has been a tinderbox under very great pressure both domestically and from regional powers for years.
For about five years, HTS, which stands for Movement for the Liberation of Greater Syria, has controlled the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, where it has established the so-called Syrian Salvation government. HTS also leads a coalition of ideologically oriented small groups, including those made up of Uzbek, Tajik and Turkmen fighters who have been stationed in Syria for years.
