Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport and canceled all flights on Saturday (30) local time, three military sources told Reuters, as rebels opposing President Bashar al-Assad claimed to have reached the heart of the city.
The Syrian army has closed the main roads into and out of the city of Aleppo, while troops have been ordered to pursue a “safe withdrawal” from areas the insurgents quickly seized, three Syrian army sources told Reuters.
The move effectively sealed the city, with the army instructing checkpoints outside the city to allow only army troops to pass through and enter, the sources told Reuters.
Opposition fighters, led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, carried out a surprise sweep through government-held cities this week and reached Aleppo nearly a decade after they were forced out of the northern Syrian city.
Assad’s key ally Russia has pledged extra military aid to Damascus to stop the rebels, two military sources said, adding that new equipment would begin arriving within the next 72 hours.
The rebels began their incursion on Wednesday (27) and, by Friday night (29), an operations room representing the offensive said they were sweeping through several neighborhoods in Aleppo.
They are returning to the city for the first time since 2016, when Assad and his allies Russia, Iran and regional Shiite militias recaptured it, with the insurgents agreeing to withdraw after months of shelling and siege.
Mustafa Abdul Jaber, commander of the rebel Jaish al-Izza brigade, said their rapid advance this week was facilitated by a lack of Iranian-backed personnel in the wider Aleppo province. Iran’s allies in the region have suffered a series of setbacks at the hands of Israel as the war in Gaza has expanded across the Middle East.
Opposition sources in contact with Turkish intelligence stated that Turkey had given the green light for the offensive.
However, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said Turkey seeks to avoid further instability in the region and had warned that recent attacks were undermining de-escalation agreements.
Civilians killed in the fighting
On Friday, Syrian state television denied that rebels had reached the city and claimed that Russia was providing air support to Syrian military forces.
The Syrian army said it was retaliating against the attack and had inflicted casualties on insurgents in rural areas of Aleppo and Idlib.
David Carden, UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syrian crisis, said: “We are deeply alarmed by the situation unfolding in northwest Syria.”
“The relentless attacks over the past three days have caused the deaths of at least 27 civilians, including children as young as 8.”
Syrian state news agency SANA reported that four civilians, including two students, were killed on Friday in Aleppo due to insurgent shelling of university dormitories. It was unclear whether these victims were part of the 27 deaths reported by the UN official.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow considered the rebel attack a violation of Syria’s sovereignty.
“We are in favor of the Syrian authorities restoring order in the area and restoring constitutional order as quickly as possible,” he said.
This content was originally published in Aleppo Airport is closed after rebels arrive in the city, sources say on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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