While weapons were temporarily laid down in southern Lebanon, Syrian Salvation Government forces, supported by Turkey, attacked the historic city held by al-Assad’s army, reviving war in the country. Middle East.
Heavy fighting took place on Friday in the western district of Aleppo, where the national army lost control of the key district of New Aleppo that Hezbollah and Iranian militias left abandoned.
The offensive by rebel forces of the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) also took control of the urban areas of Khalsa, Al-Rashidin and Khan Tuman, where, according to the Liveuamap monitoring site, the army under the command of President Bashar al-Assad abandoned four old Soviet-made T55 tanks.
Russian and Syrian air forces responded Friday morning by bombing Idlib province, the de facto capital of the SSG.
According to unconfirmed reports, a total of 200 soldiers lost their lives. Idlib forces said the victims included Russian members of a drone unit.
A surprise attack on Aleppo on Thursday by SSG forces broke a five-year truce, reviving the war in Syria just hours after a ceasefire took effect in neighboring Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah agreed to lay down their arms on Wednesday.
Fighting is also said to be underway in the demilitarized zone of northern Syria, bordering Turkey, according to Liveuamap.
Anti-Assad forces backed by Turkey managed to take control of part of the M5, the main road junction between Aleppo and the capital Damascus, according to official sources.
What are the forces on the ground?
Syrian, Russian and Iranian forces fear the new offensive could lead to rebels taking full control of the city of Aleppo, which would be a blow to Moscow and Tehran, the latter still reeling from recent losses suffered by its ally Hezbollah. in the south of Lebanon.
Kioumar Pourashemi, a key commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, is believed to have been killed in the first hours of skirmishes in Aleppo, while Russian airstrikes are particularly fierce in the urban area of Khan Al-Asal, site of a major oil base of the Syrian army.
According to Iranian sources, al-Assad’s government deployed the Russian-trained 25th Special Forces Division, formerly known as the Tiger Forces, to the historic city and capital of Syria’s most populous governorate.
The SSG is supported by the Islamist group Tahrir al-Sham, accused of extremist beliefs and linked to Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda operational until 2019.
Other military units deployed by the presidential forces include the Palestinian Jerusalem Brigade and the 4th Syrian Division, armed with modern Russian-made T-90 tanks and improved versions of the T-72.
Syria is home to two strategic military outposts for Moscow: the Russian navy port in the eastern Mediterranean at Tartus and an airport for warplanes at Khmeimim.
