BEIRUT: A monitor of Syria’s battle mentioned on Saturday (Nov 30) that jihadist rebels now management a majority of Aleppo metropolis, reporting Russian air strikes on elements of Syria’s second metropolis for the primary time since 2016.
The rebels have pressed a lightning offensive towards forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed Syrian authorities since Wednesday, the identical day a fragile ceasefire took impact in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, a Damascus ally, after two months of all-out battle.
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions … took management of a lot of the metropolis and authorities centres and prisons”, mentioned the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
HTS, a jihadist alliance led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria department, controls swathes of the Idlib area, in Syria’s northwest, in addition to elements of neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces.
In a single day, Russian “warplanes launched raids on areas of Aleppo metropolis for the primary time since 2016”, added the Britain-based Observatory, which depends on a community of sources inside Syria.
It raised the demise toll in days of clashes to 311 – 183 from HTS and allied Turkish-backed factions, 100 troopers and pro-government forces, in addition to 28 civilians.
State media reported that 4 civilians had been killed when HTS shelled a pupil residence in Aleppo.
Iran-backed militias have a heavy presence within the Aleppo area after offering essential floor assist when the Syrian military – backed by Russian air energy – recaptured rebel-held areas of the town in 2016.
