Syria: Rebels Seize Aleppo

Jihadist militias and rebels backed by Turkey have made significant advances into the center of Aleppo city, capturing strategic neighborhoods and the municipality. As armed opposition forces to legitimate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took control of Syria’s second-largest city, the government army was ordered to withdraw from Aleppo, a city of 2 million people.

While the jihadist rebel offensive has been going on for three days now, there has been a mass exodus of civilians from Aleppo towards Khanaser and some other areas that are still considered “safe” because they are under the control of Kurdish forces that have not yet taken part in battles with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militias and allied groups.

Intensive aerial bombardments by Syrian military aviation supported by fighter-bombers of the Russian Air and Space Forces deployed in Syria under intergovernmental agreements attempted to halt the rebel offensive by striking several population centers in Idlib province and north of Aleppo, but without success.

The offensive on Aleppo represents one of the most significant military operations carried out by rebel forces backed by Ankara in the past four years. This new phase of fighting is part of a major rebel operation launched on November 27 to interrupt government supply lines and reinforce a strategic presence in the northwest.

It seems that the jihadist attack took both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian military advisers by surprise. Israel is also on maximum alert: Jewish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold an extraordinary meeting with intelligence officials on Saturday night (November 30) regarding the latest and very disturbing developments in Syria.