JERUSALEM – A radical Islamist group unleashed its greatest navy incursion in opposition to Syrian regime forces since 2020 within the northwest of the war-ravaged Syrian Arab Republic, triggering Russian and Syrian warplanes on Thursday to bomb the rebel offensive.
Rebels led by the U.S-designated Islamist terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stormed a dozen cities and villages in northwest Aleppo province, which is managed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
The Syrian Islamist offensive began on the identical day that Assad’s ally, the Lebanese-based terrorist group, Hezbollah, reached a ceasefire settlement with Israel to finish over 14 months of warfare.
The battle unfolding in Syria entails a motley crew of U.S.-classified state-sponsors of terrorism — Assad’s regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran — in opposition to a Turkey-backed Islamist terrorist motion. Vladimir Putin’s Russian regime has confronted accusations of struggle crimes throughout its invasion of Ukraine.
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Smoke rises amid preventing between opposition factions and Syrian authorities troops in Majdaliya, Idlib countryside, Syria, on Thursday. (AP Photograph/Ghaith Alsayed)
Former U.S. protection intel officer Rebekah Koffler, who’s an skilled on Putin, advised Fox Information Digital, “That is basic Putin’s Playbook, what’s happening in Syria, on Thanksgiving Day. He’s doing what’s known as lateral escalation in Syria, in response to Biden’s giving authorization to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky to make use of U.S. ATACMs to strike deep into Russia, and Zelensky taking Biden up on his supply. Russia and the USA are on the other sides of the struggle in Syria. So Putin is ratcheting up assist of Assad, which is counter to U.S. coverage, signaling to Biden that he can be countering U.S. pursuits throughout a number of geographic areas.”
Anti-regime teams take management of some villages within the western countryside because the clashes between the Bashar al-Assad regime and the opposition armed group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) continued in Aleppo, Syria on Wednesday. (Kasim Rammah/Anadolu through Getty Pictures)
Koffler added, “Putin is signaling stress on Biden to withdraw authorization from Zelensky to make use of ATACMs in opposition to Russia. The doctrine is ‘escalate to de-escalate.’ With the latest strike of hypersonic missile Oreshnik on Ukraine, Putin climbed a number of rungs on the escalation ladder. With Russian air forces becoming a member of Syrian airfare bombing rebel-held northwestern Syria, he’s additionally transferring laterally on the escalation ladder, to out escalate the USA, unbalance Biden, and create as a lot negotiating leverage on Ukraine for himself earlier than President Trump begins his second time period. I might not be shocked if Assad strikes the rebel-held territories with chemical weapons once more.”
Alex Grinberg, an Israeli skilled on Russia, advised Fox Information Digital that the remainder of Assad’s military can’t combat in opposition to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham with out Russian air energy.
He mentioned that is “normally what the Russians do” in Syria.
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Iranian regime-controlled state media mentioned that Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier Normal Kioumars Pourhashemi was killed in Aleppo through the incursion. Pourhashemi was a senior IRGC navy adviser in Syria.
Anti-regime teams took management of some villages within the western countryside because the clashes between the Bashar al-Assad regime and the opposition armed group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) continued in Aleppo, Syria on Wednesday. (Kasim Rammah/Anadolu through Getty Pictures)
Islamist rebels say the marketing campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in latest weeks in opposition to civilians by the Russian and Syrian air forces on areas in southern Idlib, and to preempt any assaults by the Syrian military, which they mentioned was build up troops close to entrance traces with rebels.
Assad’s struggle in opposition to his inhabitants, which began with Syrians calling for democracy in 2011, has resulted within the murders of over 500,000 folks.
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Iran has despatched hundreds of fighters to Syria through the Syrian struggle. Whereas these have included members of the Guards, formally serving as advisers, the majority have been Shi’ite militiamen from all around the area.
Turkish safety sources mentioned on Thursday the rebels initially launched a restricted operation after assaults by Syrian authorities forces, and expanded the operation after authorities forces deserted their positions.
Reuters contributed to this report.