As Syrian rebels enter Aleppo, army closes airport and roads, sources say By Reuters
Written by Suleiman Al-Khalidi
AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport and canceled all flights on Saturday, three military sources told Reuters, as rebels against President Bashar al-Assad claimed to have reached the city center.
Opposition forces, led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, made a surprise advance on government-held towns this week in Aleppo nearly a decade after they were forced out of the northern Syrian city.
Russia, Assad’s main ally, has promised Damascus more military aid to contain the rebels, two military sources said, adding that new supplies would begin arriving in the next 72 hours.
The rebels began their attack on Wednesday and by the end of Friday, the center that represents the insurgency said that they were sweeping in different areas of Aleppo.
They returned to the city for the first time since 2016, when Assad and his allies Russia, Iran, and Shi’ite regional militias retook it, and the rebels agreed to withdraw after months of attacks and sieges.
Mustafa Abdul Jaber, commander of the Jaish al-Izza rebel group, said their rapid advance this week was aided by a lack of Iranian-backed personnel in the wider Aleppo province. Iran’s allies in the region have suffered a number of incidents at the hands of Israel as the war in Gaza has escalated in the Middle East.
Opposition sources linked to Turkish intelligence said Turkey had given the green light to the attack.
But Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said Turkey wants to avoid further instability in the region and warned the latest attacks undermine economic withdrawal agreements.
The attack is the largest since March 2020, when Russia and Turkey agreed on an agreement to end the conflict.
CITIZENS KILLED IN THE COUNTRY
On Friday, Syrian state television denied that rebels had reached the city and said Russia was providing air support to the Syrian army.
The Syrian army claimed responsibility for the attack and inflicted heavy losses on rebels in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib.
David Carden, the Deputy UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said: “We are deeply shocked by the situation in north-west Syria.”
“The relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 people, including 8-year-old children.”
The Syrian news agency, SANA, said that four civilians, including two students, were killed on Friday in Aleppo by shooting at university student dormitories. It was not clear if they were among the 27 dead reported by the UN official.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow considers the rebel attack a violation of Syrian sovereignty.
“We agree with the Syrian authorities to bring order to the area and restore the constitution as soon as possible,” he said.
