ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Clashes between rebels and the army in Syria’s most populous city Aleppo and its countryside have claimed the lives of over 250 people, including civilians, according to a war monitor. Damascus said the escalation serves the objectives of Israel.
“Inshallah, the liberators will enter Aleppo,” Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani said in a video published by opposition media outlets on Friday evening.
He issued directives to his fighters before entering the city, including asking them not to enter people’s houses or commit violations.
The jihadist HTS are leading rebel forces in a surprise offensive launched on Wednesday, seizing territory from government troops for the first time in years. They entered the city of Aleppo on Friday afternoon after taking several villages, according to Syrian opposition media.
The Syrian army said in a statement that they continue to “confront the large-scale attack launched by the armed terrorist organizations” and claimed that the rebel groups have used heavy and medium weaponry as well as drones. It also said that a large number of foreign fighters are among them.
“Our armed forces have inflicted heavy losses on the attacking organizations, resulting in hundreds of dead and injured terrorists. Dozens of vehicles and armored carriers have been destroyed, and 17 drones have been shot down and destroyed,” the army claimed.
As of Friday, the clashes have claimed the lives of 255 people: 144 rebels, 87 Syrian soldiers and pro-government militia, and 24 civilians, according to a tally by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
HTS, a former branch of al-Qaeda, is the prominent force among dozens of rebel factions in the northwest. The group, which has been internationally recognized as a terror organization, controls large swathes of Idlib as well as parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces.
The clashes have driven large numbers of people from their homes.
Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava) called on their institutions to “facilitate the passage of people” fleeing the conflict.
Farhad Shami, spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told Ronahi TV that they are following the developments and said their arch-enemy Turkey is behind the HTS-led offensive.
"Our mission is to protect our people and territories... The SDF will act as needed," he added.
Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) control one neighbourhood in Aleppo as well as Tal Rifaat north of the city, located within a small region of Afrin. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds who fled Turkey’s 2018 military offensive in Afrin are still living in camps in Tal Rifaat.
Rudaw English asked a senior Rojava official about the possibility of a Turkish attack on Tal Rifaat.
“Everything is possible now. Tal Rifaat is under threat,” said the official, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
International reaction
Iran, a staunch supporter of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, labeled the escalation in Aleppo as a plot orchestrated by its arch-foes, Israel and the United States.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Syrian counterpart, Bassam al-Sabbagh, that Tehran will continue supporting Damascus “in their fight against terrorism,” Iranian state media reported.
Sabbagh claimed that the tensions serve Israel and its allies in the Middle East.
“Minister Sabbagh pointed out that this terrorist attack serves the objectives of the Israeli entity and its sponsors in the region. He emphasized that Syria has consistently warned about the clear coordination between the Israeli entity's assaults on Syria and the attacks launched by these terrorist groups in Syria,” Syrian state media cited a foreign ministry statement as saying.
Israel and its Western allies have not commented on the latest developments.
Turkey said it is closely following the situation and urged the warring parties not to cause “larger instabilities.”
“We have issued necessary warnings on various international platforms that the recent attacks on Idlib have reached a level that undermines the spirit and functioning of the Astana agreements and have caused significant civilian casualties. We have also recorded that these attacks must be stopped. Indeed, the recent clashes have led to an undesirable escalation of tensions in the region,” Oncu Keceli, spokesperson for the Turkish foreign ministry, said in a statement on Friday, referring to the Astana peace process led by Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
“Preventing new and larger instabilities and protecting the civilian population is of great importance for Turkey,” he added.
Keceli targeted Kurdish forces in Tal Rifaat and nearby Manbij, accusing them of “trying to take advantage of the current state of instability.”
Turkey has threatened to carry out an offensive to remove Kurdish fighters from Tal Rifaat. Ankara accuses the YPG of using the location to attack its forces.
Russia, the main backer of Assad’s regime, called on the Syrian government to “restore order.”
“We are for the government of Syria to quickly restore order in this district and restore the constitutional order,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted saying by Russian media.