Rebel groups in Syria have made their biggest gains against President Bashar al Assad’s forces since 2016 as forces take control of the majority of Aleppo.
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#syria #aleppo #assad
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00:008 years after being forced out by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, Syria's second
00:08largest city Aleppo is once more in rebel hands.
00:13Thanks to God and after 8 years of being displaced, today we return to Aleppo by the will of God.
00:19Thank God we just returned. It's an indescribable feeling to return to your country, your land
00:25and the place you were brought up in.
00:27The surprise offensive led by Islamist group Hayat Tarih al-Sham and its allies began
00:32on Wednesday, bringing counter-strikes from Russian and Syrian warplanes.
00:37Despite this, the mood in the city was one of jubilation after the insurgent attack forced
00:42Syria's military to announce a temporary troop withdrawal on Saturday to prepare for what
00:47it called a counter-offensive.
00:50The city's international airport has been closed and all flights suspended according
00:54to the United Nations. The fighting has also resulted in large numbers of Aleppo's residents
00:59fleeing to government-controlled territory.
01:01The 13-year-old civil war has so far claimed the lives of over half a million people, making
01:06it the second deadliest conflict of the 21st century. However, the latest rebel attack
01:12has reignited tensions in the civil war, which has remained largely dormant since 2020.
01:18It also represents the most significant challenge to the authority of President Bashar al-Assad,
01:23His main ally, Russia, has promised Damascus extra military aid, which Moscow said would
01:28start arriving over the next few days.
01:31The Kremlin said that it considered the attack an encroachment on Syria's sovereignty and
01:36that it supported the quickest possible establishment of constitutional order in the region. But
01:41some question how quickly that help might come.
01:45It seems that Russia, because the Russian army has moved and transferred the most advanced
01:51air warplanes to Ukraine, now they were not able to intervene straight away in the last
01:58three, four days. Now they just started to intervene just now.
02:02For the rebels, they'll be hoping that this offensive will be the start of a renewed push
02:06to overthrow Syria's leader, who's been in power since 2000.