MADRID, 27 (EUROPA PRESS)
Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the most relevant Syrian armed group in the province of Idlib, and other allied anti-government factions have launched this Wednesday a large-scale offensive against the forces of the Syrian regime in the province of Aleppo, controlled by the Government of President Bashar al Assad.
Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Abdel Ghani, spokesman for the ongoing operations, explained that the rebel forces have managed to take control of several strategic points in rural areas near the city of Aleppo, such as Darat Izza, Atarib or Qabtan al Jabal, he said. picked up by the Syria TV television channel.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the rebels are just ten kilometers from Aleppo. At least 75 people have been killed in the clashes, including 37 members of the Syrian security forces, although the numbers could rise.
Rebel forces have also claimed to control an important military base in the area. In response, planes from the Syrian regime and the Russian Army have attacked the group’s positions, while attacks have also been reported on the outskirts of Idlib.
The NGO Response Coordination has announced in a statement published on its social networks that it is closely following the “catastrophic humanitarian situation in northwest Syria”, where more than 10,700 families have been displaced by the fighting in Aleppo.
The large-scale attack would be the largest since the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced a ceasefire in Idlib province in 2020. Moscow is one of the Syrian president’s main international supporters and Its military intervention in 2015 allowed government forces to repel rebel advances.
HTS, a terrorist organization inherited from the Al Nusra Front – a former affiliate of Al Qaeda – is the most relevant armed group in Idlib and the area under rebel control in Hama and Aleppo. Various armed groups also operate in Idlib that have support from Türkiye, which has also deployed soldiers in this province.