Rebel groups in northwestern Syria say they are advancing toward the city of Hama after taking control of nearby Aleppo in a blitz that began last week.
Sunday’s attempt to advance south came on the fifth day of a surprise rebel offensive as Syrian and Russian troops launched counteroffensives, reportedly hitting rebel-held Idlib province and Aleppo with airstrikes since Saturday.
According to Syrian state news agency SANA, government forces commanded by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are also fortifying the northern province of Hama. The report said the army pushed rebels out of the northern countryside overnight. Troops there were being resupplied with heavy equipment and rocket launchers, according to SANA.
On Sunday, the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, appealed to all stakeholders in the conflict to seek an immediate political solution.
“Recent developments pose a serious risk to civilians and have serious implications for regional and international peace and security,” he said.
The fighting marks the most significant turning point in years in Syria’s war, which began with a nationwide popular uprising in 2011. Since 2020, the front has been stagnant with a series of rebel groups mostly confined to parts of Idlib province. .
But after rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered Aleppo on Friday, government forces withdrew from the strategically important city of more than 2 million people.
The rebels subsequently achieved several strategic victories, including taking control of the supply line city of Kansir, the Aleppo Industrial City, the Aleppo Military Academy, and the Field Artillery College.
HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, has distanced itself from the group and has become the most powerful rebel force in northwestern Syria.
The United States, Syria and Russia still consider the group a ‘terrorist’ organization.
Pushing towards the hippopotamus
In his first public comments since the start of the offensive, announced late Saturday, al-Assad said his forces would continue to protect the government’s stability and territorial integrity against terrorists and their supporters.
He said Syria can defeat rebel attacks no matter how intense they become.
But Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from the Turkish-Syrian border, said rebels remained outside Hama and were “trying to confront Syrian government forces there.”
“Towns and villages taken over by rebels, and sometimes by Syrian government forces, are taken back,” she said. “So there is an exchange. [control]. Nonetheless, the field is very dynamic and highly volatile.”
The government said the airstrikes in rebel-controlled areas targeted weapons depots and rebel strongholds.
But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Sunday that Russian airstrikes hit the refugee camp, killing eight civilians and wounding 50 others.
Syrian Civil Defense forces operating in rebel-held areas also reported a series of attacks on Aleppo, including the Aleppo University Hospital in central Aleppo. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.
Years of war in Syria have created the world’s largest refugee crisis, with more than a thousand people reported to have been displaced in recent fighting.
Fear of a ‘burning earth’
Rajan Safour, a British-born Syrian human rights activist who works with his family in Aleppo, told Al Jazeera that although Aleppo was relatively stable, he feared a response from the government and Russian forces.
Russian military intervention starting in 2015 and Iran’s military intervention two years ago helped turn the tide of the war in Al Assad’s favor. Russian airstrikes on Aleppo helped government forces take full control of the city in 2016.
“We are talking about rebel groups that are gaining territory in Syria at a very rapid pace, but at the same time they do not have air defenses,” she said.
“And when we see this happening [previously]… The al-Assad regime, Russia, and their ally Iran responded with a scorched-earth policy.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi visited Damascus on Sunday and told reporters that Tehran would support al-Assad.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan also expressed solidarity with Al Assad in a recent phone call.
Nonetheless, Saffour said, in addition to confusion and fear, there is anticipation among some Aleppo residents who have lived under government control for years.
“We are very worried, but also very excited and excited to see what happens next,” she said.
