Syrian rebels take control of majority of Aleppo, sources say

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. Rebel forces in Syria have taken control of the "majority" of the country's second-largest city, Aleppo, according to the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

According to the source, one rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, had gained control of "more than half of Aleppo.

At least 277 people have been killed since the offensive started on Wednesday, the BBC reported.

Syrian authorities closed the Aleppo airport and all roads leading into the city on Saturday, Reuters reported, citing military sources.

Robert Ford, who was the last U.S. ambassador to Syria, said the attack showed that Syrian government forces are “extremely weak,” the Associated Press reported. In some cases, he said, they appear to have “almost been routed,” he said.

This week’s advances were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, and represent the most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by the opposition, the AP said.

Earlier on Friday, government forces said they had regained positions in a number of towns in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, following the offensive launched by HTS and allied factions on Wednesday.

Video posted on a channel affiliated with the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) appears to show rebel fighters in vehicles inside the city. BBC Verify has geolocated the footage to a western suburb of Aleppo.