For 1st time in years, Syrian rebels launch offensive against Bashar al-Assad’s forces

For 1st time in years, Syrian rebels launch offensive against Bashar al-Assad’s forces

For the first time in nearly four years, Syrian opposition forces have launched an offensive against longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad’s regime.The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and media organisations reported that opposition forces, including Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda, launched an offensive against Assad’s forces near Aleppo on Wednesday and took control of a military base and several villages.

This is the first major offensive in the Syrian Civil War in four years, which had not seen much action since 2020 when Russia and Turkey reached a ceasefire for Syria – Russia supports Assad’s regime and Turkey supports opposition forces.The Syrian Civil War began in 2011 when pro-democracy protests erupted across the country in opposition to decades of dictatorial rule by Assad family, which has ruled Syria since 1971. In 2022, the United Nations (UN) estimated that around 300,000 people had been killed in the decadelong conflict.

For 1st time in years, Syrian rebels launch offensive against Bashar al-Assad’s forces

In the attack on Wednesday, Syrian opposition forces said they seized control of 13 villages, two towns, and a military base known as ‘Base 46’ in western Aleppo, according to CNN.The opposition forces said the offensive, which they have dubbed ‘Deterrence of Aggression’, is in retaliation to artillery shelling in recent days from regime forces, as per the report.

The Base 46 is the largest government base in the area, according to The New York Times.
The newspaper further quoted opposition forces as saying that they captured weapons and tanks of regime forces as well.

Charles Lister, the Director of Middle East Institute’s Syria and Counterterrorism programmes, told the newspaper that the fact that opposition forces comprising a “wide spectrum of armed opposition groups” manged to get within 4-5 kilometres of Aleppo is of “gigantic significance”.

Previously, such an offensive “would have been pushed back by the regime” but opposition forces like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is linked to Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra front, have invested heavily in resources and training in recent years and “that basically levels the playing field”, said Lister.

Moreover, allies of Assad’s regime, such as Iran-backed militias and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, have been weakened in recent months by incessant Israeli bombardment. As they have been battered by Israel, they are not in shape to provide support to Assad’s regime at the moment.

Reuters reported a source as saying that Syrian opposition forces have reached near two Shia towns of Nubl and Zahra where Hezbollah has a strong presence.Lava Yuva 4 Launched With 50MP Camera Under Rs 7000; What’s Special About It?

Related Articles