Syrian rebels, allies capture parts of Aleppo city 

Syrian rebel fighters on Friday took control of several neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, as clashes continued with government forces, according to a monitoring group and local sources.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has researchers across the war-torn country, reported that five neighborhoods on Aleppo’s western edge were captured by Turkish-backed rebels and militants with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former affiliate of al-Qaida.

A witness in Aleppo city, who declined to be named for security reasons, confirmed to VOA that rebel forces advanced in at least five neighborhoods of the city after clashes with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

It was the first major attack on Aleppo since 2016, when Syrian government forces, supported by Iranian-backed militias and the Russian air force, pushed out rebel factions from the eastern parts of the city during the height of Syria’s civil war.

Another witness in Aleppo, who also didn’t want her identity to be revealed, said the fighting has forced thousands of residents to flee to safer parts of the city. She told VOA she witnessed some clashes in her neighborhood, which is in the western part of the city, noting that Syrian government forces ended up withdrawing from the area.

Friday’s advancement in Aleppo is part of a major offensive launched by Syrian rebels and their allies that began Wednesday. Rebel forces said they had taken control of dozens of towns and villages in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib in the past two days.

The Syrian military said in a statement Friday that “its armed forces operating on frontlines in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib continue to counter the major attack carried out by the terrorist organizations,” referring to rebel forces. The military didn’t comment on the ongoing situation in Aleppo city.

Experts have linked the latest developments in Aleppo to shifting dynamics elsewhere in the Middle East.

“Since 2016, those defending Aleppo were Iran and [the Lebanese militant group] Hezbollah, but both are now in vastly different circumstances,” said Ahmed Rahal, a former Syrian military general who defected from the army in 2012. He now works as a military analyst in Istanbul.

“Iran is currently preoccupied with its conflict with Israel, and Hezbollah has nearly been decimated [by Israel],” he told VOA. “The regime is unable to defend Aleppo, particularly after its total collapse in five neighbors on Friday.”

While Russia, a key backer of the Assad government, has carried out airstrikes against rebel forces in recent days, it has not targeted the advancing rebel fighters in Aleppo city. According to the Syrian Observatory, Russian warplanes on Friday carried out at least 20 airstrikes in Idlib province in northwestern Syria.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said in a statement Friday that “the recent clashes have resulted in an undesirable escalation of tensions in the region,” calling on the warring sides to respect previous de-escalation agreements sponsored by Turkey and Russia.

Nicholas Heras, a Middle East expert at the New Lines Institute, a Washington-based research group, said that Turkey has long been dissatisfied with Russia's inability to deliver an agreement to normalize Ankara’s ties with the Assad government, noting that “this current offensive needs to be placed in that strategic context.”

However, he told VOA, “Neither Russia nor Iran has an interest in Aleppo city falling to the Syrian rebels, and this means that there is a real risk that the situation could devolve into a big crisis.”

“Moscow and Tehran cannot risk Assad losing Aleppo because there is a regionwide perception that [Iran’s self-described] Axis of Resistance is on the ropes after Hezbollah and Hamas took major damage from Israel's military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon,” Heras said.

This story originated in VOA’s Kurdish Service.