Syria, rebels and their allies take control of most of Aleppo

2024-11-30 14:27:41, Kosova & Bota CNA

Syrian rebel fighters have taken control of most of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, for the first time since 2016, a group monitoring the Syrian war said on Saturday, as fighting continued as government forces and Russian warplanes are carrying out airstrikes in different parts of the city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has monitors across the war-torn country, said on Saturday that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance led by al-Qaeda's former affiliate in Syria, and allied factions have taken control of most of the city, government facilities and prisons.

"The governor of Aleppo and the heads of the police and security branches withdrew from the city center and the regime forces left the city in the Al-Safirah area," the monitoring group added.

"There was no fighting and no shots were heard after the regime forces withdrew ," the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

A witness in Aleppo, who declined to be identified for security reasons, confirmed to VOA that rebel forces advanced in parts of the city on Friday after clashes with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Reuters, citing military sources, said Syrian authorities closed Aleppo's airport and all roads leading to the city on Saturday.

It marked the first time the city had been attacked by rebel forces since 2016, when they were driven out of Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods after a fierce military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.

Another witness in Aleppo, who also declined to be identified for security reasons, said the fighting has forced thousands of residents to flee to safer areas of the city. The witness told VOA that there was fighting in a neighborhood in the western part of the city, and that Syrian government forces eventually withdrew from the area.

The rebel advance on Aleppo follows a major offensive they launched on Wednesday, with thousands of fighters pushing into villages and towns in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday that 277 people had been killed in clashes since Wednesday, most of them rebels and Syrian soldiers.

David Carden, the UN's deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for the crisis in Syria, said on Friday that at least 27 civilians, including children, had been killed in the fighting./ VOA