Rebels seize control of Aleppo in blow to Assad

Thousands of opposition forces took control of Syria’s second city Aleppo and its airport in a shock assault that marked their largest advance and the biggest challenge facing Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in years.

- BEL TREW

The extraordinary push on Aleppo that started on Friday was met with a wave of airstrikes by Russian and Syrian jets.

The assault on the city was led by commanders of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group once aligned with al-Qaeda, who said they intended to force the army of the autocratic leader out.

Later, they said they faced almost no opposition from government forces as they expanded the operation, seizing multiple towns and villages in the neighbouring province of northern Hama.

It represents a devastating threat to Mr Assad’s rule. It comes at a time when the Syrian regime’s two biggest allies – Iran-backed Hezbollah and Russia – have been severely weakened. Firstly by Israel and then the costly war in Ukraine.

Moscow said its fighter aircraft launched a wave of strikes on opposition troops, command posts, depots and artillery positions in retaliation, according to the state-run Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of the Enemy Parties in Syria.

Thousands of Syrian insurgents were deployed across the city in armoured vehicles on yesterday, to landmarks such as the old citadel, residents said, as the rebels claimed to seize control of Aleppo airport – and senior diplomats in Russia, Iran and Turkey held phone calls to discuss the situation.

Speaking from the city, Abd Alghani Al-Aryan, a journalist from Idlib, that joined the forces as they swept into Aleppo, the first time he had entered the city in 13 years, said “the regime is collapsing dramatically”.

“It feels like a dream, I can’t even describe it,” he told The Independent from inside the city. “The regime’s return is out of the question, especially if they accept the current reality in the region.”

He added: “Especially after losing its most critical element that was protecting it: Russian airpower, followed by the Iranian and Lebanese militias, particularly Hezbollah.”