President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly sent large reinforcements to the southern Aleppo area after Al-Qaeda linked insurgents' shock offensive which captured the city. Assad said he will defend Syria's stability and territorial integrity.
The London-based political opposition group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday that the total death toll from the fighting is over 400 people on both sides. The tally includes the deaths of 214 members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied factions which launched the assault.
And at least 137 pro-government forces and 61 civilians have been killed. The AFP has described that the military campaign launched out of Idlib is being coordinated from an operations room in Turkey.
AFP wrote on Friday that "Opposition sources in touch with Turkish intelligence said Turkey had given a green light to the offensive." AFPs correspondent in HTS/AQ-held Idlib additionally reported that "The jihadists and their Turkey-backed allies took orders from a joint operations command."
A fresh report in Israeli media has acknowledged that this is all about weakening the 'Iran axis':
But the primary reason for the success of the rebel offensive and the collapse of the regime forces is the effectiveness of Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah and Iran since October 8, 2023.
HTS had been building up its military capabilities for years in preparation for such an offensive.
“The group operates a professionally staffed military academy run by defectors from the Syrian military, and it has restructured its armed wing into a conventional armed force structure,” wrote Charles Lister, Syria expert at the Middle East Institute. “In recent years, it has also developed ‘special forces’ units dedicated to covert operations, lightning raids behind enemy lines, and nighttime operations.”
As for Iran, it says that it firmly supports Assad in a new statement. Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said Sunday he will soon arrive in Damascus to deliver a strong message of support for Syria’s government and military, Iranian state media has said.
"I am going to Damascus to convey the message of the Islamic Republic to the Syrian government," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. He pledged that Iran will "firmly support the Syrian government and army," IRNA news agency said.
Iran is pointing the finger at Washington and Tel Aviv for this new jihadist offensive:
Araghchi again called the surprise rebel offensive a plot by the United States and Israel.
"The Syrian army will once again beat these terrorist groups as in the past," the foreign minister added.
In the past couple days of Aleppo fighting, not only has the Islamic Republic's consulate in the major northern city come under attack, but there have been reports that an Iranian general may have been killed.
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