Syria's 13-year-old civil war has returned to the fore with a surprise rebel offensive that has seized Aleppo, the country's second largest city and former economic capital.
La operacióncalled “Deterrence of aggression”, is the most violent since 2020, and has been carried out by a coalition called the “Military Operations Command” led by the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Levant Liberation Agency)which has a common goal: to defeat the regime of Bashar al Assad and recover areas lost during the battles of the last decade.

The insurgents launched the double attack against Aleppo last Wednesday and went into the surroundings of Idlib and in the neighboring province of HamaThe Syrian army has sent reinforcements and launched air strikes to try to stop their advance.
It was the first opposition attack on Aleppo since 2016, when a brutal air campaign by Russian warplanes helped Assad retake the northwestern city. The intervention Russia, Iran y Hezbollah, ally of Iran, and other groups had allowed Assad to remain in power within the 70% of Syria under his controlNot coincidentally, the insurgents announced their offensive hours after a ceasefire was initiated between their ally Hezbollah e Israel.
Groups vying for control of Syria
This conflict began in 2011 with popular revolts in the context of the “Arab Springs” and it led to a very complex situation, in which many actors have tried to share the puzzle that has become SyriaIn particular, four main groups are currently competing for control over the terrain. They are:
—Bashar Al Assad's government forces: The army, the government's main military force, fights alongside the National Defense Forces, a pro-government paramilitary group. They have key support from Iran, through forces (such as the Quds Force) present in the country and pro-Iranian militias such as Hezbollah, and the Russian aviation.
—Levant Liberation Organization and other allied rebel groups: The Levant Liberation Organization (HTS) is the latest iteration of the Facing al-Nusra, who had pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda until he severed those ties in 2016. Led by Abu Mohamed al-Jolani -who headed Al Nusra-, in recent years has come closer to Türkiye in an attempt to seek international legitimacy and distance itself from the religious ideological extremism of Al Qaeda. Alongside Al Jolani, other armed movements such as Sultan Murad and Yeish al Izza, supported by Ankara, operate on this front.
—Syrian Democratic Forces: This group dominated by the Kurds and US-backed control parts of eastern Syria.
—Turkish and Turkish-aligned Syrian rebel forcesThe Syrian National Army is a Turkish-backed rebel force in northern Syria.
In the center of the country there are also areas controlled by the ISIS, the jihadist group that at its peak ruled an area in Iraq and Syria half the size of the United Kingdom. There it tried to impose its extreme interpretation of Islam, which included attacks on minority religious groups and harsh punishments for Muslims considered apostates.
How the offensive progresses
On Wednesday, the day a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect, Syrian opposition forces, led by HTS, launched an offensive from their base in the province of Idlib, in northwestern Syria.
On Wednesday night, the group had seized at least 19 cities and villages to the pro-government forces, including military installations, in their advance towards the west of the province of Aleppo.
The Syrian regime responded by bombing rebel-held areas, while Russian aircraft carried out airstrikes.
On Thursday, the rebels had captured more territory and expelled government forces from villages in eastern Idlib, and began to advance towards the highway M5, a strategic route leading south to the capital Damascus, some 300 km away.
On Saturday the insurgents took most of Aleppo and advanced into the surrounding province. They also seized the city's main water pumping station, which is no longer operational, Syrian Water Minister Moataz Qattan told pro-government radio station Sham FM.
On Sunday, government troops created a “strong defensive line” in northern Hama, in an attempt to curb the insurgents’ momentum, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor. Meanwhile, planes bombed the cities of Idlib and Aleppo, killing at least 25 people, according to the Syrian civil defense group that operates in opposition-held areas.
However, the colonel Hassan Abdulghani, a rebel commander, said Monday that the insurgents had advanced in the vicinity of Idlib, placing the entire province of the same name under his control.
The rebels also claimed to have entered the city of Hama, but there was no independent confirmation of this.
En Khan SheikhounIn Idlib province, military vehicles abandoned by Syrian troops littered the roads. People posed and took photos on top of an abandoned tank on a roadside, while the insurgents seized ammunition and shells before continuing their advance deep into Syria.
The insurgents promised to reach Damascus, but life in the Syrian capital remained normal, with no signs of panic. In southeastern Aleppo, however, the main road out of the city was blocked as people fled the fighting, and petrol stations in the area were short of fuel.
The rebels also managed to enter Tel Rifaat, a town near Aleppo held by US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces, according to pro-government pan-Arab television Al Mayadeen.
Tel Rifaat It is far from the large swathes of northeastern Syria controlled by Kurdish troops, known as Syrian Democratic ForcesA statement from the insurgency called on the SDF to abandon areas near Aleppo that it holds and withdraw to its strongholds in the northeast.
Despite being politically at odds with the Syrian government, The Kurdish-led administration has opposed the insurgency and has accused Türkiye, the main backer of Syrian opposition groups, in trying to displace the Kurdish population.
Turkish officials have said a limited rebel offensive was planned in recent weeks to stop government attacks on opposition-held areas, but that It expanded when government forces began to retreat.