The jihadists in Syria are advancing rapidly and putting the troops of the Assad. He is counting on help from Russia, but that has been weakened by the war in Ukraine. There are reports that Aleppo has also fallen into the hands of the jihadists.
The armed forces led by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are successfully continuing their offensive in Syria. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the rebels have taken control of a large part of the metropolis of Aleppo and its airport without encountering serious resistance from the Syrian army.
Under jihadist control
A number of government centers and prisons in the city were also already under the control of the jihadists, summarizes ARD. There are reports that the rebels now control dozens of strategically important places in Idlib and Hama provinces. Much of this data cannot be independently verified. While the activists claim that the government troops have withdrawn from there as well, a source from the Syrian army denied the withdrawal to the AFP news agency.
On Wednesday “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham“ and its allies launched a surprise major offensive against Syrian government forces. According to data from the Syrian Monitoring Center in the fiercest battles of 2020. over 320 people have died so far, including at least 44 civilians.
Salafist-Jihadist ideology
The HTSH group is considered the successor of the “An-Nusra“ and is a former branch of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in Syria. According to terrorism experts and security authorities in the US and Australia in 2016. the group has changed its name and broken with Al Qaeda. Despite its public separation from al-Qaeda, HTS pursues a Salafist-jihadist ideology, writes the American think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The jihadist offensive is putting significant pressure on Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. Experts say the rebels have chosen a favorable time for their offensive: Assad's allies - Russia, Iran and the Iran-funded terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon - have been weakened by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
However, Assad hopes to hold off on the strikes: “With the help of its friends, Syria is able to repel terrorist attacks”, Assad told the president of the United Arab Emirates, quoted by state radio and television.
Russia continues to bomb
According to observers, Russian warplanes continued to attack the northwestern part of Syria. At night and early on Sunday, there were attacks in the provinces of Idlib and Hama, as well as in Aleppo, the Monitoring Center reported. Russia is currently carrying out its first airstrikes on Aleppo since 2016. this way.
Russian media reports that the Russian army has bombed rebel positions supporting the government in Damascus. "The operation to repel extremist aggression continues," Russian news agencies quoted Oleg Ignasyuk, deputy head of the Russian mission in Syria, as saying. Command centers, artillery positions and rebel camps were attacked. Around 300 militants were also said to have been killed within 24 hours.
According to information from Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone with his colleagues in Iran and Turkey. During the talks, Lavrov expressed concern about the “dangerous escalation” of the hostilities in Syria. He also emphasized that Syria will continue to receive support from Russia, summarizes ARD.