Syrian army counterattacks rebels, chaos is happening

(CLO) The Syrian army is increasing airstrikes on a new rebel alliance in Aleppo, after these forces suddenly attacked and took control of the country's second largest city.

Syrian government's determination to repel rebels

The sudden resurgence of rebel activity after a long period of silence in Syria's civil war has renewed challenges to President Bashar al-Assad's rule, which he has helped bring stability to the country over the past eight years.

The newly formed rebel coalition, calling itself the Military Operations Command, has captured key sites across Aleppo, including the airport.

The Syrian Air Force, with Russian support, has carried out airstrikes on rebel groups in Aleppo city. Photo: TASS

Rebels consolidated their advances on Sunday by seizing key military sites in eastern Aleppo, but they left several neighborhoods in the hands of Kurdish rebels.

Determined to repel the rebel alliance, Syrian army aircraft - along with Russian aircraft based in Syria - carried out bombing raids on opposition positions in Aleppo, Idlib and Hama.

Russia's official news agency TASS quoted the Syrian military command in a report on Sunday as saying its air force "intensified attacks on terrorist positions and their supply lines, leaving dozens of people dead and wounded."

In his first comments since the rebel offensive, Mr Assad said Syria would continue to "defend its stability and territorial integrity against all terrorists and their supporters" in a call with regional leaders on Saturday.

Syria, "with the help of our allies and friends, is capable of defeating and destroying them, no matter how fierce their terrorist attacks are," Mr. Assad said.

On Sunday, Assad told visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that he intended to fight "with all strength and determination throughout (Syrian) territory".

The rebel offensive has reignited Syria's long-running civil war, which has killed more than 300,000 people and created nearly 6 million refugees. The civil war has never officially ended in Syria and is the most significant flare-up of the conflict since 2020.

An area hit by an airstrike by the Syrian army in Aleppo, northern Syria, on November 30, 2024. Photo: AFP

The chaos in Syria is back

The new rebel coalition in Syria has changed somewhat in structure. It is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al Qaeda affiliate in Syria formerly known as Al-Nusra Front, along with groups previously supported by the US and some other countries - groups that have fought against each other in Syria.

The issue is further complicated by the ongoing fighting between various rebel groups, which are numerous in Syria. Specifically, the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army said on Sunday that it had taken control of the city of Tal Rifaat, the towns of Ain Daqna and Sheikh Issa in northern Aleppo province, and several other areas from the Kurdish fighters.

The territories were previously held not by the government of Bashar al-Assad but by another faction involved in the multi-front civil war, the Syrian Democratic Forces, made up of Kurdish fighters from a group known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), which Türkiye considers a terrorist organization.

The Syrian Democratic Forces have also previously fought other opposition groups in Syria, and have received US backing in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

Bui Huy (according to TASS, CNN)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/quan-doi-syria-phan-kich-quan-noi-day-dang-xay-ra-tinh-trang-hon-chien-post323752.html