Insurgents reached Aleppo, Syria’s second city, on Friday, in a swift offensive against Bashar Assad’s forces, who are supported by Russian and Iranian allies.
Civilians killed in the fighting The Syrian military vowed to repel the attack, but even before entering Aleppo, the insurgents wrestled control of more than 50 towns and villages from Assad’s forces.
“I am alarmed by the deteriorating situation in northwest Syria and the impacts on the lives of civilians,” David Carden, deputy regional UN coordinator for humanitarian aid in Syria, said.
Turkey has backed opposition groups and established a military presence in northwestern Syria, while the United States has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting “Islamic State” (IS) militants in the east.
Since 2020, the conflict has remained largely static, with only low-level clashes between the rebels and Assad’s forces.
On Friday, insurgents launched a rapid offensive against Bashar Assad’s forces, backed by allies in Iran and Russia, and advanced as far as Aleppo, Syria’s second city.
With 255 people killed, primarily combatants, the fighting is among the deadliest in years, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in the United Kingdom.
It began on Wednesday in regions under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist organization. The Syrian National Army, a rebel group backed by Turkey, entered the conflict.
The conflict killed civilians.
The insurgents took over more than 50 towns and villages from Assad’s forces before they even entered Aleppo, despite the Syrian military’s vow to repel the attack.
Meanwhile, Abu Mahmoud Omar, a military commander of a government-aligned pro-Syrian militia, stated that “the next few hours will be crucial for the battles following the arrival of large military reinforcements from the Syrian army and allied forces to Aleppo.”. “..”.
At least 27 civilians have been killed in the past three days, according to the UN.
The violence over the last three days has resulted in the displacement of “more than 14,000 people, nearly half are children,” according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“The worsening conditions in northwest Syria and the effects on civilian lives are concerning,” stated David Carden, the deputy regional UN coordinator for humanitarian assistance in Syria.
“Children with multiple shrapnel wounds from the attacks are being reported to us,” he continued.
The civil war in Syria has never entirely ceased.
Nearly 14 years have passed since the Syrian civil war broke out, sparking from a popular revolution that the Assad-led Syrian government violently put down.
After anti-government demonstrations descended into violence, Russia and Iran backed the Syrian government.
While the United States has aided Syrian Kurdish forces battling “Islamic State” (IS) militants in the east, Turkey has backed opposition groups and established a military presence in northwest Syria.
Since 2020, the conflict has mostly stayed the same, with only minor skirmishes between Assad’s forces and the rebels.
In 2020, a truce mediated by Russia and Turkey saw the Syrian government halt its efforts to retake the rebel-held areas of Idlib.
(Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa) lo/wd.
