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Fighters from Iraq to Syria to fight rebels

2024-12-02 18:29:03, Kosova & Bota CNA

Hundreds of fighters from Iraqi armed groups backed by Iran crossed into Syria overnight to help the government fight rebels who seized control of the city of Aleppo last week, several Syrian and Iraqi sources said on Monday, as Tehran pledged to help the government. of Damascus.

At least 300 fighters, mostly from the "Badr" and "Nujabaa" groups, entered Syria avoiding the official border crossing, two Iraqi security sources said.

"These are new reinforcements that are being sent to help soldiers on the front line in the north," a senior Syrian military source said. According to him, Iraqi fighters had moved into small groups to avoid airstrikes.

Aid from the militant groups Iran has in the region has long been a factor in the success of pro-government forces in Syria in subduing rebels who rose up against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday that Syria's army was capable of dealing with the rebels, but he said "fighters from Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are going to help and that Iran will provide any necessary support." ".

The Syrian government, aided by Russian warplanes, intensified attacks Monday on rebel-held areas in the northwest, residents and rescue workers said, including an attack on a displaced persons camp that left seven dead.

Last week's surprise rebel attack caught the region off guard and was a major blow to Syrian President Bashar al Assad, re-igniting a conflict that had been "frozen for years" in 2020.

Although Russia has been focused on the war in Ukraine since 2022, it still maintains an air base in northern Syria. On the other hand, the Hezbollah group, the main Iranian-backed militant group operating in Lebanon, has been involved in the war with Israel since the start of the Gaza conflict last year.

Syria's conflict erupted after a rebellion against Assad's rule in 2011, and rebels held most of Aleppo from 2012 to 2016, when government forces retook it with help from Russia and Iran-backed militias.

Any escalation of the war in Syria risks further destabilizing a region already rocked by conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, with millions of Syrians already displaced.

The rebels are divided into several main groups, some backed by Turkey, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which was linked to al-Qaeda. Turkey also has a military presence in a strip of Syrian territory along its border.

Kurdish-led forces, which Ankara calls terrorists but fought Islamic State militants with US help, hold territory in the northeast.

Russia, whose involvement in the conflict in 2015 tipped the military balance decisively in Assad's favor, continues to support the Syrian president and is analyzing the situation on the ground, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

On Sunday, Moscow fired the general in charge of its forces in Syria, Russian war bloggers reported. The Syrian government said Syrian and Russian air forces were attacking rebel-held positions east of Aleppo city.

The White Helmets organization and residents of rebel-held areas in the north said warplanes had struck residential areas of Aleppo city and a camp for displaced people in Idlib province, killing seven people, including five children.

In Turkey, Syrian opposition leader Hadi al-Bahra said the rebels want the Syrian government to accept a political transition. "We are ready to start negotiations tomorrow," Bahra told a news conference.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army had taken the town of Tel Rifaat from the Kurdish YPG militia and was continuing to advance.

Rebel sources and an Aleppo resident said the Kurdish YPG group was withdrawing from the Sheikh Maqsoud region under an agreement with rebel forces. The YPG had held this region for a long time./ VOA