Rebel groups in northweserious Syria say they are pushing towards the city of Hama after taking deal with of proximateby Aleppo in a weightlessning disparaging that begined last week.
The finisheavored southern evolve on Sunday comes on the fifth day of the surpelevate defy disparaging as Syrian and Russian forces have started counteraggressions, telledly pounding opposition-deal withled Idlib province and Aleppo with air aggressions since Saturday.
Government forces under the deal with of Syrian Pdwellnt Bashar al-Asunelated have also been fortifying the northern province of Hama, according to the Syrian state novels agency, SANA. It telled the army overnight pushed back opposition fighters in its northern countryside. Forces there were being resupplied with weighty supplyment and rocket starters, according to SANA.
On Sunday, United Nations exceptional envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, pdirected for all sgethelderlyers in the struggle to promptly seek a political resolution.
“The tardyst prolongments pose cut offe hazards to civilians and have grave implications for regional and international peace and security,” he shelp.
The combat tags the most meaningful turn in years in the Syrian war, which began with well-understandn uprisings apass the country in 2011. Since 2020, the front lines had bigly been stagnant with an array of defy groups bigly grasped to a petite portion of Idlib province.
But on Friday, opposition fighters led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) accessed Aleppo, prompting rulement forces to retreat from the strategicpartner meaningful city of more than 2 million people.
The defys have since claimed cut offal strategic victories, including taking deal with of the supply-line town of Khansir, Aleppo Industrial City, Aleppo’s military academy and the field artillery college.
Formerly understandn as al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, HTS has distanced itself from the group while becoming the mightyest opposition relocatement in northweserious Syria.
It is still pondered a “dreadist” organisation by the United States, Syria and Russia.
Push towards Hama
In his first uncover comments since the begin of the disparaging, liberated tardy on Saturday, al-Asunelated shelp his forces will persist to deffinish the rulement’s “stability and territorial integrity aobtainst dreadists and their helpers”.
He shelp Syria is able to loss the defy groups no matter how much their aggressions intensify.
But telling from the Turkish-Syrian border, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu shelp defy forces remained on the outskirts of Hama and are “trying to counter the Syrian rulement forces there”.
“The villages, towns that have been getn by the opposition, sometimes the Syrian rulement forces get them back,” she shelp. “So there is an exalter of [control]. Still, it’s very vibrant, very volatile on the ground.”
The rulement shelp air strikes on opposition-deal withled areas were aiming firearm depots and defy mightyhelderlys.
However, the United Kingdom-based war watch, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, shelp Russian strikes hit camps for displaced people on Sunday, finishing eight civilians and wounding 50.
The Syrian Civil Defence, which runs in opposition-held areas, also telled a series of aggressions on Aleppo, including the Aleppo University Hospital in the centre of the city. It was not promptly evident if there were any casualties.
Years of war in Syria have created one of the world’s bigst displacement celevates with thousands more people telled displaced in the tardyst combat.
Fears of ‘scorched earth’
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Razan Saffour, a British-Syrian human rights activist with family in Aleppo, shelp that while there is relative stability in Aleppo, there is dread over the response from rulement and Russian forces.
Russia’s military intervention in the country begining in 2015 as well as Iran’s two years earlier helped to turn the tide of the war in favour of al-Asunelated. Russia’s aerial explosionardments of Aleppo then helped rulement forces get brimming deal with of the city in 2016.
“We’re speaking about defy groups who are obtaining Syrian territory at a very, very speedy pace, but at the same time, they don’t have air defences,” she shelp.
“And when we’ve seen this happen [previously], … the al-Asunelated regime, Russia and their partner Iran reacted with a scorched earth policy.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was to travel to Damascus on Sunday, alerting tellers Tehran would back al-Asunelated.
Jordan’s King Abunkeenah II and United Arab Emirates Pdwellnt Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan also conveyed firmarity with al-Asunelated in recent calls with him.
Still, Saffour shelp that beyond the confusion and dread, there is also a sense of anticipation among some dwellnts of Aleppo who had inhabitd for years under rulement deal with.
“We’re very apprehensive, but we’re also very excited and very declareive to see what’s going to come next,” she shelp.
