Russia intensifies strikes on Syrian rebels after advances

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has launched a series of airstrikes on several areas of Syria where opposition forces have recently made territorial gains, a war monitor reported on Sunday.

The Russian strikes early on Sunday targeted towns and villages seized by an Islamist-led opposition alliance in the north-western province of Idlib and the central province of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Similar strikes were also reported on the northern city of Aleppo, which was overrun by the opposition forces earlier this week in a surprise offensive against al-Assad’s forces.

“The Russians have not stopped their bombing on all fronts since last night,” the Observatory’s head Rami Abdel-Rahman said.

He told dpa that the rebels are now in control of Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, except for some Kurdish-ruled neighbourhoods on the north-western outskirts.

An alliance of rebel factions led by the Islamist militant organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) unleashed a massive attack in north-western Syria on Wednesday, marking a significant escalation in the country’s civil war, which has raged since 2011 and had recently had relatively stable front lines.

HTS is considered one of the most powerful armed militias in north-western Syria.

The opposition assault is considered the largest by rebels on Aleppo since 2016 when they were ousted from the eastern areas of the city.

On Saturday, the Syrian army said the large number of insurgents involved in the multi-front offensive had prompted government forces to redeploy in preparation for a counter-attack.

The fighting has displaced thousands of local inhabitants, activists said.

With the help of his allies Russia and Iran, al-Assad has managed to regain control of about two-thirds of the country from rebels in the past years.