The Syrian rebels entered the center of Aleppo, where they closed the airport and the roads to the city

Syrian rebels led by the military opposition group "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham"; are fighting with the government forces of Bashar al-Assad already in the very center of the second largest city of Syria, Aleppo.

This is reported by Reuters with reference to sources.

The airport was closed in the city and the roads to Aleppo itself were blocked. Government troops were ordered to "safely withdraw" from the main areas of the city where the rebels had entered.

Rebels from the opposition took control of more than 70 settlements in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib before entering the city. It happened over the course of several days — from Wednesday (November 27) to late Friday night (November 29) — and a decade after they were ousted by forces of the Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies.

Russia, one of Assadʼs main allies, has promised Damascus additional military aid to thwart the rebels. New weapons will arrive within the next 72 hours.

Opposition sources in contact with Turkish intelligence said in an anonymous comment to Reuters that Turkey, which backs the rebels, had given the green light for the offensive. Officially, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Oncu Keceli, said that his country wants to avoid greater instability in the region.

Active clashes between the rebels and Syrian troops began on November 27. The offensive was launched by the Syrian Revolutionary Forces in "response to months of continuous attacks on civilians" by the Assad regime in Aleppo province. It was the most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters. It is also the biggest advance by opposition fighters on the city since they were pushed out of the eastern districts in 2016.

Civil war in Syria

The civil war in Syria has been going on since 2011. It began as a local civil confrontation, which gradually turned into an uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Over time, it involved not only the main states of the region, but also international organizations, military-political groups and other countries.

The main participants in the conflict are regular military formations that support President Bashar al-Assad, formations of the "moderate" Syrian opposition, Kurdish regionalists, as well as various terrorist groups. The parties to the conflict receive military aid from other countries: government forces are supported by Russia and Iran, while the Syrian opposition receives aid from Western countries, Turkey and the Gulf monarchies.

The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah also aided the Assad regime in the civil war and had a presence in Syria. However, it has now concentrated its forces in Lebanon to repel the Israeli offensive in the south of the country. During this conflict, Hezbollah lost thousands of fighters, as well as its commanders and leader Hassan Nasrallah.

As for Russiaʼs support, it has come to the aid of President Bashar Assad since 2011. Russia sent weapons to the country, which were accumulated by the Syrian troops, and also kept its own military bases with weapons there. In 2015, the Russians began to fight on the territory of Syria together with Hezbollah fighters. Now, videos and photos are being circulated on social networks, in which fighters from the Syrian opposition have allegedly captured Russian military equipment, including machine guns and tanks.

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