The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the northwest and launched air strikes on Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo, as Iran pledged to help the government counter the surprise offensive.
Iran has been a key political and military ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s long-running civil war, but it was unclear how Tehran would support Damascus in the latest flare-up that began on Wednesday. Insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib that day, before moving towards neighbouring Hama province.
On Sunday, government troops created a “strong defensive line” in northern Hama, as they attempted to stall the insurgents’ momentum, according to Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Meanwhile, jets pounded the cities of Idlib and Aleppo, killing at least 25 people, according to the Syrian civil defence group that operates in opposition-held areas.
The surge in fighting has raised the prospect of another violent, destabilising front reopening in the Middle East at a time when Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, conflicts that have repeatedly threatened to ignite an even wider regional war. It also risks drawing Russia and Turkey – each with its own interests to protect in Syria – into direct heavy fighting against each other.
The insurgents announced their offensive on Wednesday, just as a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel began, raising some hope that tensions in the region might be calming.
The surprise offensive is a huge embarrassment for Assad, and it comes at a time when his allies – Iran and groups it backs and Russia – are preoccupied with their own conflicts.
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