“Observatory”: Armed factions are in almost complete control of Aleppo

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced today, Saturday, that Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and its allied factions took control of “the majority of the city of Aleppo,” coinciding with Russian warplanes launching raids on the city’s neighborhoods for the first time since 2016.

The Observatory said that “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham” and its allied factions “took control of the majority of the city, government centers and prisons,” and added, “Russian warplanes launched raids after midnight on Friday and Saturday on the neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo for the first time since 2016.”

Surprise attack

The Observatory announced that half of the city of Aleppo in Syria was under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and allied factions, two days after a surprise attack launched by those factions on regime-controlled areas in northern and northwestern Syria.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, “Half of the city of Aleppo is now under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and factions loyal to it,” adding that the fighters had reached the Aleppo Citadel. He pointed out that “there was no fighting, and not a single shot was fired, amid the withdrawal of regime forces.”

“Safe withdrawal”

Three Syrian army sources told Reuters that the army closed the main roads leading to and from the city of Aleppo, after instructions were issued to the forces to follow orders for a “safe withdrawal” from the neighborhoods overrun by the militants.

The sources stated that this step effectively closed the city after the army issued instructions at checkpoints outside the city to allow only army forces to pass and enter.

Two Syrian military sources told Reuters that Syria had received a promise of additional Russian military aid to help the army prevent militants opposed to Syrian regime President Bashar al-Assad from seizing control of Aleppo Governorate in the northwest of the country.

The two sources added that Damascus expects new Russian military equipment to begin arriving at the Russian Hmeimim air base near the coastal city of Latakia within 72 hours.

Saraqib city

And I took control.”Hay’at Tahrir al-ShamAnd opposition factions took control of the city of Saraqib in Idlib Governorate, according to what the Observatory reported, as part of a large-scale attack launched in Northern Syria During which I entered the city of Aleppo.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, “The importance of Saraqib (northwest) is that it prevents any room for the regime to advance to Aleppo, and it is located on a strategic node linking Aleppo to Latakia (west) and Damascus.”

A military source told Reuters that the Syrian authorities had closed the area Aleppo Airport All flights were cancelled.

This comes after militants opposed to Syrian regime President Bashar al-Assad said earlier that they had arrived in the center of the city of Aleppo in the north of the country.

The director of the Observatory said that the factions “entered the southwestern and western neighborhoods” of the city and took control of five of them. Two eyewitnesses from the city told the agency that they saw armed men in their area, amid a state of panic in the city.

“extremists”

The Russian army announced on Friday that its air force was bombing anti-government factions in Syria as part of an operation to repel “extremists” who launched a major attack on the city of Aleppo, according to official Russian news agencies.

The agencies quoted a spokesman for the Reconciliation Center of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Syria as saying, “The Russian Air Force is carrying out bomb and missile attacks on equipment and members of illegal armed groups, control points, warehouses, and artillery sites belonging to terrorists.”

The agencies reported that the raids led to the “elimination” of 200 militants during the past 24 hours.

Deputy Head of the Russian Reconciliation Center, Oleg Ignasyuk, said, “The process of repelling the extremists’ aggression continues,” according to official media reports.