Civilians are fleeing Aleppo as the Syrian military vows to retake the city from rebels

Thousands of civilian cars fled the Syrian city of Aleppo from the city’s main Khanasir Athriya intersection, hours after insurgents overran the main districts, three residents told Reuters.

They went mainly to Latakia and Salamiya, they said, because the main Damascus-Aleppo road was closed.

The Syrian military said on Saturday that rebels had entered large parts of the city of Aleppo during an offensive that killed dozens of soldiers, forcing the army to redeploy – the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years .

The surprise attack by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has shaken the front lines of the Syrian civil war, which have been largely frozen since 2020, and revived fighting in a corner of the fractured country near the Turkish border. The army said it was preparing a counteroffensive to restore state power.

The Syrian army command’s statement was the military’s first public admission that rebels had entered Aleppo, which has been under full state control since the rebels were driven out by government forces backed by Russia and Iran eight years ago.

Army plans counterattack

“The large number of terrorists and the diversity of battle fronts prompted our forces to conduct a redeployment operation with the aim of strengthening defensive lines to absorb the attack, save the lives of civilians and soldiers and prepare for a counterattack,” the army said said.

The army said the rebels had entered large parts of Aleppo, but army bombardment prevented them from establishing strong positions. It promised to “evict them and restore the state’s control… over the entire city and its environs.”

Two rebel sources said the insurgents had also captured the town of Maraat al Numan in Idlib province, taking control of the entire province, in another major blow to Assad.

The fighting revives the long-simmering Syria conflict as the entire region is rocked by wars in Gaza and Lebanon, where a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah came into force on Wednesday.

The attack was launched from rebel-held areas in northwestern Syria, which are beyond Assad’s reach.

Warplanes attack on the outskirts of Aleppo

Two Syrian military sources said Russian and Syrian warplanes attacked insurgents in an Aleppo suburb on Saturday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow viewed the rebel attack as a violation of Syria’s sovereignty. “We are in favor of the Syrian authorities ensuring order in the region as quickly as possible and restoring constitutional order,” he said.

The Syrian Civil Defense, a rescue service that operates in opposition-held parts of Syria, said in a post that civilians and six others were injured.

The two Syrian military sources said Russia had promised Damascus additional military aid that would arrive in the next 72 hours. Authorities have closed Aleppo airport and roads to the city, two military sources and a third army source said.

The Syrian army has been ordered to follow orders to “safely withdraw” from the main areas of the city where the rebels have entered, the three military sources said.

Iran’s role in the region

The rebels, including Turkish-backed factions, said on Friday their fighters were sweeping through various districts of Aleppo.

Mustafa Abdul Jaber, a commander in the Jaish al-Izza rebel brigade, said their rapid advance was aided by a lack of Iranian-backed manpower to support the government in wider Aleppo province.

Iran’s allies in the region have suffered a series of blows at the hands of Israel as the Gaza war has spread to the Middle East.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi accused the United States and Israel of being behind the insurgent attack in a phone call with his Syrian counterpart on Friday.

The opposition fighters said the campaign was in response to increased Russian and Syrian air force attacks on civilians in areas of Idlib province in recent weeks and to forestall any attacks by the Syrian army.

Opposition sources in touch with Turkish intelligence said Turkey, which supports the rebels, had given the green light for the offensive. Turkish officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday that clashes between rebels and government troops had led to an unwanted escalation of tensions.

In a statement, spokesman Oncu Keceli said avoiding greater instability in the region was Turkey’s priority, adding that Ankara had warned that recent attacks on Idlib would undermine the spirit and implementation of the de-escalation agreements.