Syrian opposition forces have taken control of much of the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo, according to a video verified by the CNN and by city residents.
A rebel alliance launched a surprise attack this week, sweeping east through villages and reigniting a conflict that had been largely at a standstill for years.
It is the first time that Syrian rebels have set foot in Aleppo since Bashar Al-Assad’s government forces regained control during the civil war in 2016.
This Saturday morning (30), the rebels took control of large areas of the city, according to images geolocated by CNN .
Rebel fighters were seen in key locations, with one video showing armed men waving an opposition flag and shouting “God is great” in Arabic in a central square.
Another clip shows rebels in central Aleppo. At least one man in the clip is armed, as he says: “We are the first to arrive and the first to conquer.”
The only exception appears to be the northeastern part of the city, where some neighborhoods remain under the control of government forces and Iranian militia allies.
It appears that the advancing rebels have encountered little resistance from the Syrian Army, with several Aleppo residents telling the CNN that there was minimal fighting in the urban areas of the city.
In response to the rebel advance, the Russian air force on Friday launched an air offensive against Syrian rebel forces in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, Russian state media reported.
Kurdish forces have also expanded their control of some Aleppo neighborhoods, residents said. Before this week’s attack, they occupied two Kurdish neighborhoods, but have now moved into areas that the Syrian regime used to control.
The Kurdish militia, known as the YPG, has a history of conflict with other rebel groups in northern Syria.
Rebels expose their objectives
The rebels are part of a newly formed coalition called the “Military Operations Command,” which includes a broad spectrum of opposition fighters, including Islamist factions and moderate groups previously supported by the US.
The coalition was announced on Wednesday before the attack on Aleppo.
Lt. Col. Hassan Abdelghani, a coalition commander, said his goal was to “liberate our occupied territories” from what he called a “criminal regime” as well as Iranian militias.
The offensive, which began on Wednesday, is the first major conflict in years between the Syrian opposition and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who has ruled the war-torn country since 2000.
Syria’s civil war began during the 2011 Arab Spring, when the regime suppressed a pro-democracy uprising against Assad.
The country descended into a full-scale civil war when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.
The conflict escalated as other regional actors and world powers – from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia – joined in, escalating the civil war into what some observers described as a “proxy war”.
The Islamic State also managed to gain a foothold in the country before suffering significant blows.
Since the 2020 ceasefire agreement, the conflict has remained largely dormant, with low-intensity clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the United Nations, and millions of people have been displaced in the region.
This content was originally published in Syrian rebels take control of most of the city of Aleppo on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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