Syrian rebels launch major attack on regime forces in Aleppo province

Syrian rebels have launched a large-scale attack on regime forces in western Aleppo, according to a Free Syrian Army source and local residents, marking the first major flare-up in years between both sides.

Opposition factions announced the offensive Wednesday on their Telegram channel, calling it the “Deterrence of Aggression,” and claiming it was a response to recent artillery shelling from the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Rebels seized 13 villages, including the strategic towns of Urm Al-Sughra and Anjara, as well as Base 46, the largest Syrian regime base in western Aleppo, according to a Wednesday statement by opposition factions.

It added that 37 people from the regime forces and allied militia were killed in the offensive.

CNN has not been able to independently verify the reported casualty numbers and has reached out to the Syrian government for comment.

Wednesday’s surprise attack marks the first significant conflagration between Syrian rebels and the regime since March 2020, when Russia and Turkey mediated a ceasefire agreement in the country.

The Military Operations Command of the Syrian rebels told CNN its fighters had liberated the town of Urm Al-Kubra, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the city of Aleppo, after what it described as “intense battles with Assad forces and Iranian militias.”

Its spokesperson, Hassan Abdulghani, later said the group had “carried out a precision strike targeting a helicopter at Al-Nayrab Airport,” east of Aleppo.

Videos circulating on social media, which CNN was unable to verify, showed smoke rising from the western Aleppo countryside. Rebel troops are also seen operating in several villages near Aleppo city. In one video, a fighter is seen praying and celebrating in the village of Anjara, claimed to be his hometown. “Anjara is ours, not the Assad family’s,” the cameraman is heard saying.

Syrian state media has not reported on the clashes, while some pro-regime outlets mentioned the fighting without providing details on locations or outcomes.

A resident in a regime-held neighborhood in Aleppo city told CNN that civilians in the neighborhood of New Aleppo, one of the wealthiest in Syria, have begun fleeing to other areas due to fear of the ongoing clashes.

The opposition factions conducting the offensive range from Islamic groups to the moderate Free Syrian Army, which was previously supported by the US and Turkey.

Syria’s civil war began during the 2011 Arab Spring as the regime suppressed a pro-democracy uprising against Assad, who has been president since 2000. The country plunged into a full-scale civil war as a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to combat government troops.

The conflict swelled as other regional actors and world powers – from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia – piled in, escalating the civil war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.” ISIS was also able to gain a foothold in the country before suffering significant blows.

Since the 2020 ceasefire agreement, the conflict has remained largely dormant, with low-level clashes between the rebels and Assad’s regime. More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the United Nations, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.

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