For the past several days, the official Syrian Armed Forces (Syrian Arab Army-SAA) have been engaged in fierce battles with a number of terrorist groups across northwestern Syria. The groups appear to have captured Aleppo in addition to dozens of villages, towns, and military sites in the northwestern Syrian governorates of Aleppo and Idlib after engaging in fierce clashes with the official Syrian Armed Forces and allied forces since Wednesday, November 27.
The groups that have reportedly used medium and heavy weapons also have disrupted the key international highway connecting Aleppo with the Syrian capital Damascus, and seized control of the junction.
In the fierce clashes between the terrorist groups and SAA, hundreds of people from both sides have been killed so far. The SAA and the Russian Aerospace Forces also carried out a series of counteroffensive artillery shelling and airstrikes targeting hideouts, missile launch sites, and drone installations belonging to the terrorist groups in the invaded areas.
According to a statement issued by the Syrian Arab Army on Wednesday, the onslaught on the mentioned areas is the largest in four years. “Since the early morning hours, fierce battles have been taking place between the Syrian Arab Army and terrorist organizations that have launched the largest attack since 2020,” the statement reads.
As the back-and-forth fighting continues, SAA regained control of several points, which were breached by terrorist groups in the rural areas of Aleppo and Idlib, on Friday, November 29.
The terrorist groups are said to be launching the massive assault in alliance with the Levant Liberation Committee or Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was previously known as Al-Nusra Front.
Russia suggests that US-led western powers are backing these groups to spread chaos in the region. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated on Thursday, November, 28, that “attempts to target the Syrian state, its sovereignty and independence have been ongoing for years by regimes hostile to international peace and security in general, and they have chosen Syria and are still clinging to it as a target for their ongoing and continuous aggression”.
Furthermore, according to Al Mayadeen‘s correspondent in Syria, armed groups operating west of Aleppo have been using an advanced drone, which was reportedly acquired from the Ukrainian intelligence services.
The resurgence of terrorist groups in Syria is seen by many as a US-Israeli plot to undermine another front affiliated with the Axis of Resistance, namely the Syrian front, after Israel was obliged to accept a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The United States and its allies, decided to use their proxies in West Asia represented in terrorist groups to fight the resistance coalition and destabilize the region, after Israel endured considerable losses in its operations in Lebanon and Gaza.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during a phone call with his Syrian counterpart Bassam al-Sabbagh on Friday, that the reactivation of terrorist groups in Syria is a plot orchestrated by the US and the Zionist regime following Israel’s defeat in Lebanon and Palestine. The Iranian diplomat also reassured that Tehran will support the Syrian government and people in their battle against terrorism.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmail Baghaei warned that any delay in addressing terrorist activities in Syria may jeopardize the significant achievements accomplished in combating terrorism over recent years, and would expose the region into a new cycle of insecurity and instability. Baghaei also stressed that areas such as Aleppo’s countryside and Idlib are designated de-escalation zones by the guarantor states Iran, Türkiye, and Russia as per the existing agreements under the Astana Peace Process which started in 2017.
