Civil war in Syria: Pressure on Assad – Syria’s government loses Aleppo

According to activists, the Syrian government has lost control of the city of Aleppo to rebels. An alliance led by the Islamist organization Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was able to push government troops out of the city in the northwest of the country in a very short time. With the exception of four districts controlled by Kurdish militias, Aleppo is now completely under the control of the rebel alliance, said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel-Rahman, to the German Press Agency.

This means that Syria’s second largest city is no longer under the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s government for the first time in years. However, some parts of the city have been controlled by Kurdish rebels for several years. The takeover of Aleppo represents a violent escalation in the civil war that has been going on for 14 years. According to the Syrian state agency Sana, which cites the army, the military is preparing a counterattack.

A devastating war has been raging in Syria since 2011, which has completely divided the country. Assad’s government recently controlled around two-thirds of the country with the help of its allies Russia and Iran. Different opposition forces dominate parts of the northwest and northeast. There is no political solution to the conflict in sight.

Big successes for rebels in a short time – Russia launches attacks

In mid-week, the alliance of insurgents led by the HTS began an offensive in northwest Syria. Most rebel groups withdrew there, to Idlib province, after the Syrian army recaptured Aleppo in December 2016. Now the insurgents were able to celebrate major territorial gains around Idlib and Aleppo within just a few days.

The HTS is considered the successor to the Al-Nusra Front, a former offshoot of the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda in Syria, but distanced itself from Al-Qaeda in 2016. The group is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA, among others, and, according to experts, pursues a Salafist-jihadist ideology.

How the fighting continues also depends on Assad’s ally Russia. For the first time since 2016, the Russian Air Force carried out attacks on Aleppo again.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the airstrikes continued on Sunday. They also hit places in the Idlib region and in the central Hama province. The UK-based organization sources its information from a network of local informants.

Syrian Civil Defense activists, also known as the White Helmets, reported at least four civilians dead and 54 injured in the airstrikes.

New escalation after several years of standstill

In Aleppo, rebel groups and government troops and their allies fought heavy battles in the first years of the civil war. In 2016, the rebels were driven out of eastern parts of the city. Russia and Iran helped government troops regain control of Aleppo.

Between 2012 and 2016 the city was almost completely destroyed. The battle for Aleppo was one of the most brutal in the civil war. Parts of the devastated city were later rebuilt. Today there are around 2.5 million people living in Aleppo.

Numerous actors in the civil war

The offensive apparently came as a surprise to Syria’s ruler Assad. Observers assume that the rebels have exploited a current weakness in the pro-Iranian militias allied with Assad and in Iran itself.

In addition to Russia and Iran as supporters of the Syrian government. Another actor is Turkey, which supports rebel groups in the northeast of the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on a ceasefire for Idlib in 2020. Since then, violence has initially decreased significantly.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Damascus to discuss the situation in Aleppo with his Syrian counterpart. He is expected in Turkey on Monday.

Fighting between Kurdish militias and pro-Turkish rebels

According to the Observatory, Kurdish militias and pro-Turkish rebels fought north of Aleppo. Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu reported, citing security sources, that the rebels had launched an offensive against the Kurdish militia YPG. This is intended to prevent Kurdish militias from taking control of further areas in the region. The YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) controls regions in northern Syria. Turkey has long wanted to weaken the influence of Kurdish militias on its border and also occupies areas in northern Syria with the support of rebel groups.

UN Syria representative sees “collective failure” after new fighting

“What we are seeing in Syria today is a sign of collective failure,” said UN special envoy Geir Pedersen about the new flare-up of violence. Pedersen said he had repeatedly warned against relying solely on conflict management instead of conflict resolution. The latest developments would not only threaten the Syrian civilian population, but also regional and international security.

The civil war in Syria also triggered a large refugee movement to Europe in 2015. The Union faction’s domestic policy spokesman now sees neighboring countries as having a duty if people flee from the new violence. “If refugee movements arise due to the advance of jihadist groups in northern Syria, these must take place within safe areas of the country or in neighboring states,” said CDU politician Alexander Throm to the newspapers of the Funke media group.

As a neighboring country, Turkey has taken in the most Syrian refugees in the world; according to the UN, around three million displaced people from Syria still live there.