Syrian rebels launch strikes on Aleppo

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Islamist rebels have launched attacks on Aleppo, according to state media, killing four people in Syria’s second city as they intensify their offensive against areas held by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The Syrian Arab News Agency published photographs of dust-coated buildings with blown-out windows, which it said showed the impact of shelling by what the regime describes as “terrorist” forces on Friday.

The rebels, led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), denied hitting Aleppo’s University City residential area, calling the reports regime “propaganda”. The insurgents insist they are pushing back against an escalating campaign of shelling and air strikes by forces loyal to Assad, including by Iran-backed Lebanese militants Hizbollah.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based monitoring group, said insurgents detonated two car bombs and clashed with regime forces at the city’s western edge on Friday.

The rebels’ offensive, and retaliation by Assad-loyal forces including Russian air strikes, is taking a toll on civilians. Between Tuesday and Thursday at least 12 civilians, including four children, were killed by the hostilities, the UN said in a report on Thursday. Humanitarian monitors say 14,000 people have been forced to flee.

After crushing Syria’s rebellion with Russia and Iran’s support, Assad pushed an estimated 2mn civilians and remaining opposition fighters — including thousands of Islamist extremists — into the north-western region of Idlib.

HTS, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US state department, became Idlib’s dominant power. It runs services including a police force, and sought to portray itself as having a more moderate and domestically focused brand of Islamism than extremists in the territory who aligned themselves with international groups such as al-Qaeda. 

Neighbouring Turkey has backed Syria’s opposition and exercises control over a swath of north-west Syria. Although Ankara is known to have a relationship with HTS, it has less control over the militants than other rebel groups.

After four years of stalemate, brokered by Russia and Turkey, the rebels began a shock eastward offensive into regime-held territory on Wednesday.

In the most serious challenge to Assad’s authority in years, the insurgents say they have overrun Syrian army positions and taken dozens of villages, cutting off the country’s M5 highway — its most important north-south route — and advancing to the outskirts of Aleppo city. 

Using sophisticated weaponry including drones, the battle-hardened fighters have taken advantage of escalating Israeli attacks on militant groups affiliated with Iran, which analysts believe are likely to have weakened Assad’s support. 

As Israel went to war with Hizbollah in neighbouring Lebanon, it hit weapons depots and supply routes in Syria to prevent the Lebanese militants rearming via overland corridors from Iran.