 "Smoke rises as a member of the rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria November 29, 2024. Reuters")
Rebels who mounted a surprise offensive against the Iranian and Russian-backed Syrian government have reportedly taken control of strategic towns.
According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist alliance led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch, and allied factions, have taken control of key towns in Idlib and Hama provinces.
Idlib, located in northwestern Syria, lies 59 kilometres away from Aleppo, the capital of the most populous governorate in the West Asian nation.
So far, the rebel offensive in Syria has killed at least 311 people, mostly combatants on both sides, but also including at least 28 civilians, the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for information, said.
Iran, Russia express concerns
The foreign ministers of Russia and Iran expressed “extreme concern” at escalating hostilities in Syria, where rebels launched an assault on the city of Aleppo, Moscow said Saturday.
“Strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic was reaffirmed,” Moscow’s foreign ministry said in a readout of a call between Sergei Lavrov and Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
Iran also said that “terrorist elements” attacked its consulate in the Syrian city of Aleppo during the rebel offensive.
With inputs from agencies