According to news reports, Syrian revolutionary groups have infiltrated the city center of Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city after three days of fighting with Assad regime forces and affiliated Iranian militias, including Hezbollah. The armed groups breached the defenses in the western countryside of the city in the Hamdaniyya, New Aleppo, and Zahra axes and made their way into the city center.
Opposition forces advanced on the city’s outskirts after fighting continued through the night, taking control of 70 settlements and key locations, as confirmed by reports from the ground. On social media, a recorded message urging the city’s citizens to assist the advancing forces was shared.
the opposition groups have taken control of the regime forces’ military vehicles, depots, and heavy weapons
Videos from opposition-affiliated social media accounts demonstrate that they used drones during their advance, a new weapon they had not used in the early phases of their conflict with Assad forces.
During their advance, the opposition groups have taken control of the regime forces’ military vehicles, depots, and heavy weapons. An estimated 400 square kilometers of territory have been seized by opposition groups in the Aleppo and Idlib countryside. According to the opposition fighters, their offensive will enable thousands of displaced people who had to flee earlier clashes to return to their homes.
The battles have claimed the lives of hundreds of fighters on both sides thus far.
This is the first time opposition forces have attacked the city since they were driven out of Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods in 2016 after a bloody military campaign by the forces of the Assad regime supported by Russia, Iran, and its allies.
the town of Saraqab, a key location that would protect Aleppo’s supply routes, has become under the control of the fighters
Public transportation had also been rerouted to the city from the main highway that connected Aleppo to the capital Damascus.
It appears that the attack’s timing was crucial in allowing the revolutionary fighters to advance quickly while the Assad forces were caught off guard.
In the northwest Idlib province, the town of Saraqab, a key location that would protect Aleppo’s supply routes, has become under the control of the fighters.
On Wednesday, November 19, the current operation began with a shock offensive. Since 2020, when Assad and forces led by Iran took control of regions that had been occupied by opposition fighters, the fighting in northwest Syria has been at its worst.
