Thousands of Syrian insurgents took over most of Aleppo on Saturday, establishing positions in the city and controlling its airport before expanding their shock offensive to a nearby province. They faced little to no resistance from government troops, according to fighters and activists.
A war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seized control of Aleppo International Airport, the first international airport to be controlled by insurgents.
Thousands of fighters moved on, facing almost no defense from government forces, to seize towns and villages in northern Hama, a province where they had a presence before being expelled by government troops in 2016. They claimed Saturday evening to have entered Hama city.
The surprise offensive is a huge embarrassment for Syria's President Bashar Assad and raised questions about his armed forces' preparedness. The insurgent offensive launched from their stronghold in the country's northwest appeared to have been planned for years. It comes at a time when Assad's allies were preoccupied with their own conflicts.
In his first public comments since the start of the offensive, released by the state news agency Saturday evening, Assad said Syria will continue to "defend its stability and territorial integrity against terrorists and their supporters." He added that Syria is able to defeat them no matter how much their attacks intensify.
Turkey, a main backer of Syrian opposition groups, said its diplomatic efforts had failed to stop government attacks on opposition-held areas in recent weeks, which were in violation of a de-escalation agreement sponsored by Russia, Iran and Ankara.
Turkish security officials said a limited offensive by the rebels was planned to stop government attacks and allow civilians to return, but the offensive expanded as Syrian government forces began to retreat from their positions.
Two-pronged attack
The insurgents, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and including Turkey-backed fighters, launched their shock offensive Wednesday. They first staged a two-pronged attack in Aleppo and the Idlib countryside, entering Aleppo two days later and securing a strategic town that lies on the highway that links the city to the capital and the coast.
By Saturday evening, they seized at least four towns in the central Hama province and claimed to have entered the provincial capital.
Syria's armed forces said in a statement Saturday that to absorb the large attack on Aleppo and save lives, it redeployed troops and equipment and was preparing a counterattack. The statement acknowledged that insurgents entered large parts of the city but said they have not established bases or checkpoints. Later Saturday, the armed forces sought to dispel what it said were lies about its forces retreating or defecting, saying the general command was carrying out its duties in "combatting terrorist organizations."
The return of the insurgents to Aleppo was their first since 2016, following a grueling military campaign in which Assad's forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.
The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters after 2011 protests of Assad's rule turned into an all-out war. After appearing to be losing control of the country to the rebels, the Aleppo battle secured Assad's hold on strategic areas of Syria, with opposition factions and their foreign backers controlling areas on the periphery.
The lightning offensive threatened to reignite the country's civil war, which had been largely in a stalemate for years.
Late Friday, witnesses said two airstrikes hit the edge of Aleppo, targeting insurgent reinforcements and falling near residential areas. The Observatory said 20 fighters were killed.
Insurgents were filmed outside police headquarters, in the city center, and outside the Aleppo citadel, the medieval palace in the old city center, and one of the largest in the world. They tore down posters of Assad.
Push follows weeks of violence
The push into Aleppo followed weeks of simmering low-level violence, including government attacks on opposition-held areas.
The offensive came as Iran-linked groups, primarily Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own battles at home.
A ceasefire in Hezbollah's two-month war with Israel took effect Wednesday, the same day that Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks against Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria during the last 70 days.
Speaking from the heart of the city in Saadallah Al-Jabri square, opposition fighter Mohammad Al Abdo said it was his first time back in Aleppo in 13 years, when his older brother was killed at the start of the war.
Abdulkafi Alhamdo, a teacher who fled Aleppo in 2016 and returned Friday night after hearing the insurgents were inside, described "mixed feelings of pain, sadness and old memories."
"As I entered Aleppo, I kept telling myself this is impossible. How did this happen?"
Alhamdo said he walked through the city at night visiting the Aleppo citadel, where the insurgents raised their flags, a major square and the university of Aleppo, as well as the last spot he was in before he was forced to leave for the countryside.
"I walked in (the empty) streets of Aleppo, shouting, 'People, people of Aleppo. We are your sons,'" he told The Associated Press in a series of messages.
Residents stay inside
Aleppo residents reported hearing clashes and gunfire, but most stayed indoors. Some fled the fighting.
Schools and government offices were closed Saturday as most people stayed indoors, according to Sham FM radio, a pro-government station. Bakeries were open. Witnesses said the insurgents deployed security forces around the city to prevent any acts of violence or looting.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday Aleppo's two key public hospitals were reportedly full of patients while many private facilities closed.
In social media posts, the insurgents were pictured outside of the citadel, the medieval palace in the old city center, and one of the largest in the world.
The Syrian Kurdish-led administration in the country's east said nearly 3,000 people, most of them students, had arrived in their region after fleeing the fighting in Aleppo, which has a sizeable Kurdish population.
On a state TV morning show Saturday, commentators said army reinforcements and Russia's assistance would repel the "terrorist groups," blaming Turkey for supporting the insurgents' push into Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
