Syrian cities under siege after nearly a decade: What's happening?

Syrian forces crumble against rebel Islamist group as Aleppo falls in stunning three-day offensive. Here's all that happened

Three days was all it took for a band of Syrian rebels to seize control of the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo, after nearly a decade away. On 27 November, the rebels, operating under the banner of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched a surprise offensive against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and captured the city, the Associated Press reported.

 

In their bid for expansion, the rebels have now surrounded the central city of Hama, a government stronghold, from “three sides,” The Guardian reported. The Syrian government, supported by its allies Iran and Russia, is countering the rebel forces.

 

 

This development marks the latest episode in Syria’s long struggle with armed rebellion. Here’s explaining of the recent rebel offensive against the Syrian government:

 

A long war in Syria

 

Syria witnessed a long civil war after the outbreak of anti-government protests inspired by the Arab Spring protests in 2011. In the following years, various rebel groups overpowered the government forces and took over the control of many Syrian cities.

 

Russian troops entered the conflict in 2015, and with support from Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, they turned the tide in favour of the Syrian government, which regained control of most cities by 2016. The rebels were left controlling only the northwestern city of Idlib, which has since become their base for targetting government forces.

 

Who leads the rebels?

 

The most powerful anti-government force in Syria today is HTS, led by 42-year-old Abu Mohammad al-Joulani. Another significant rebel group, the Turkiye-backed Free Syrian Army, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), supports HTS.

 

Joulani joined al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2003 and was arrested by U.S. forces in 2006, spending five years in prison. During the Syrian civil war's early stages, al-Qaeda dispatched him and a contingent to fight against President Assad.

 

Joulani later established the al-Qaeda branch in Syria, the al-Nusra Front. Over time, he distanced his group from al-Qaeda, focusing solely on gaining control over parts of Syria.

 

In 2016, after the Assad regime recaptured Aleppo and most other cities except Idlib, Joulani renamed his group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Al Jazeera reported. A year later, when rebels from various factions fled to Idlib, Joulani allied with them to form HTS.

 

Why the recent rebel attacks?

 

This marks the rebels' first attempt to invade Aleppo since their expulsion in 2016. The timing of the attack can be attributed to the distraction of Assad's key allies —Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah— in their respective conflicts.

 

“It’s not only that the Russians are distracted and bogged down in Ukraine, but also the Iranians are distracted and bogged down elsewhere. Hezbollah’s distracted and bogged down elsewhere, and the regime is absolutely cornered. But the surprise element comes in with how quickly the regime crumbled,” Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group and an expert on Syrian groups, told the Associated Press.

 

In the recent attack, the HTS did not face much difficulty in taking control over Aleppo and surrounding Hama. In a matter of a week, the rebels have managed to occupy more than double the territory they hold.