Syrian government loses Aleppo after lightning rebel offensive: monitor

Government forces lost control of Syria's second city Aleppo on Sunday for the first time since the country's civil conflict began, a war monitor said, after a lightning offensive dealt a severe blow to President Bashar al-Assad.

A far-right rebel alliance launched its assault on forces of the Syrian government on Wednesday, the same day a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighboring Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah after two months of all-out war.

The extremist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied factions now "control Aleppo city, except the neighborhoods controlled by the Kurdish forces", Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

Rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drive on a motorbike in al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria November 29, 2024. Reuters

For the first time since the civil war started more than a decade ago, "Aleppo city is out of control of Syrian regime forces", he said.

In 2016 the Syrian army -- supported by Russian air power -- recaptured rebel-held areas of Aleppo, a city dominated by its landmark citadel.

Damascus also relied on Hezbollah fighters to regain swathes of Syria lost to rebels early in the war, which began in 2011 when the government crushed protests. But Hezbollah has taken heavy losses in its fight with Israel.

Kurdish areas remain independent zones

Several northern districts inside Aleppo are predominantly inhabited by Syrian Kurds under authority of the People's Protection Units (YPG), the main component of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Before this offensive, HTS, led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, already controlled swathes of the Idlib region, the last major rebel bastion in the northwest. HTS also held parts of the neighboring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces.

This photo shows Syrian rebels in the streets of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on November 30, 2024. The rebels and their allies reached Syria's second city of Aleppo. AFP

The latest fighting has killed more than 370 people, mostly combatants but also including at least 48 civilians, according to the Observatory, which has a network of sources inside Syria. The Observatory said rebel advances met little resistance.

The Observatory on Sunday said the army strengthened its positions around Syria's fourth largest city Hama, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) south of Aleppo, and sent reinforcements to the north of the surrounding province.

Syria's defense ministry said army units in Hama province "reinforced their defensive lines with diverse means of fire, equipment and personnel".

Major towns fall to rebels

Rebels have taken dozens of towns across the north, including Khan Sheikhun and Maaret al-Numan, roughly halfway between Aleppo and Hama, the Observatory said.

In Idlib on Sunday, bodies lay in a hospital and vehicles were torched in the street, AFP images showed, after what the Observatory said were Russian air strikes.

In Aleppo, an AFP photographer saw charred vehicles. Inside one car, a woman's body lay slumped in the back seat, a handbag beside her.

Aaron Stein, president of the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, called the rebel advance "a reminder of how weak the regime is".

International reactions grow stronger

Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said "Aleppo seems to be lost for the regime... and a government without Aleppo is not really a functional government of Syria".

Syria's "reliance on Russia and Iran", along with its refusal to move forward with a 2015 peace process outlined by the UN Security Council, "created the conditions now unfolding", said US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett.

A boy holds the Syrian opposition flag in Aleppo, after the Syrian army said that dozens of its soldiers had been killed in a major attack by rebels who swept into the city, in Syria November 30, 2024. Reuters

The United States maintains hundreds of troops in northeast Syria as part of an "anti-jihadist" coalition.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Tehran for Damascus to deliver what state media said would be a message of support for Syria's government and armed forces.

Araghchi again called the rebel offensive a US and Israeli plot, and vowed that "the Syrian army will once again win".

Assad vowed to defeat the "terrorists", however big their attacks.

"Terrorism only understands the language of force, and that is the language which we will break it and eliminate it with, whoever its supporters and sponsors are," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We are constantly monitoring what is happening in Syria."

Russia, whose air support was previously decisive in helping Syria's government win back lost territory, joined Iran in expressing "extreme concern" over their ally's losses.

UN envoy Geir Pedersen said the "latest developments pose severe risks to civilians and have serious implications for regional and international peace and security".

Jordan's King Abdullah II expressed support for Syria's "territorial integrity, sovereignty and stability", and Pope Francis urged a prayer "for Syria, where war has unfortunately reignited, resulting in many victims".