Anti-Assad rebels seize control of most of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, sending regime forces fleeing

The Sunni Islamist rebel group Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an al-Qaeda offshoot with support from the Turkish government, announced on Saturday that they had captured the Aleppo International Airport. This followed a surprise offensive launched on Wednesday, which aimed at retaking significant parts of Syria. 

The offensive, which reached Aleppo on Friday, and now appears to have resulted in HTS gaining control of much of the city, presents the most significant challenge to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in several years. 

Assad, backed by Russian and Iranian forces, recaptured the city of Aleppo from anti-regime forces eight years ago.

The rapid advance of HTS – and the lack of organized government resistance over the past few days – has raised the specter of a return to the height of conflict from the Syrian Civil War, potentially destabilizing a region already strained by 14 months of conflict involving Israel and the Iranian proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. 

Iran has used its close connection to and support of the Assad regime to build its own forces in Syria and to provide weapons and support to Hezbollah.

Along with Russia, the Iranian regime used Assad’s weakness in the Syrian Civil War as an opportunity to bolster its own interests, including an attempt to create a corridor from Iran to the Mediterranean, via its proxies in Iraq and Syria, as well as with cooperation from Assad's regime. 

The Syrian government has promised to launch a counter-offensive to drive the rebel groups out of the captured territories, however, given the weakened state of Russian forces in Syria because of the Ukraine war, the ability of Assad’s forces to push back the rebels is not certain. 

Russian forces proved crucial to Assad earlier in the Syrian Civil war, especially the Russian Air Force, which brought a tactical advantage that the rebel forces could not adequately counter. 

With Russia focused on the Ukraine war, Assad has had to lean more heavily on Iran's influence to help prevent a resurgence of the conflict in Syria.

Now, with Israel’s decimation of the top military leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and even high-ranking Hezbollah officers in Syria, as well as demonstrating the ability to strike Iran directly, Syrian opposition groups appear to have decided the time was right to attempt a new offensive against Assad’s forces in the western part of the country. 

Early Saturday morning, several Russian jets conducted airstrikes on rebel-held neighborhoods in Aleppo for the first time since 2016, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The London-based group said the airstrikes resulted in the killing of 20 HTS members.

Despite the airstrikes, SOHR reported that rebel groups had already advanced into the city center, driving out regime forces and the municipal government. 

Jason Brodsky, policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital that the advance of the Turkish-aligned, Islamist rebel groups could have negative implications for Israel’s security. 

“I think it is concerning if some elements of the anti-Assad forces get their hands on sensitive sites in Syria. There have been reports that they have seized the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, which is where Assad’s chemical weapons program is housed among other military assets,” Brodsky said. “Given the background of some of these groups which were formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, it raises serious questions and could have implications for Israeli national security.” 

Syrian jihadis are waving their flag at the Citadel of Aleppo today.

You may recognise this type of flag from the Taliban and other fanatical islamist groups. Pray for the civilians, and pray for Aleppo's ancient heritage. pic.twitter.com/gdpom29oA1

— 𝗡𝗶𝗼𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗴 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) November 30, 2024

The advance of HTS into Aleppo also raises concerns for the city’s Christian population, as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has documented multiple attacks on religious minorities by HTS.

A 2023 USCIRF report stated that HTS has targeted “religious minorities, especially Yazidis, for rape, assassination, kidnapping for ransom, confiscation of property, and desecration of cemeteries and places of worship.” 

In 2022, USCIR reported that HTS “remains a potent source of a Salafi-jihadism that restricts the religious freedom of non-conforming Sunni Muslims and threatens the property, safety, and existence of religious minority groups such as Alawites, Christians, and Druze.” 

The report cited HTS’ “mutually and politically expedient relationship with Turkey – which itself represents a distinct threat to vulnerable religious minority groups via its military incursions in northern Syria.” 

At the time of publication, the opposition forces were said to be advancing toward the city of Hama, a key regime-controlled city about 145 kilometers (88 miles) southwest of Aleppo.