Syrian rebel groups, led by the Levant Liberation Organization and backed by Turkey, have launched their first major offensive in almost five years, taking around 50 towns in three days in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory reported this Friday. of Human Rights (OSDH). The fighting is concentrated at the gates of Aleppo and in the province of Idlib, the last opposition stronghold in the country.
Since the start of the offensive that began on Wednesday, at least 255 people have already been killed: 144 rebel fighters and 87 soldiers of the Syrian Army and its allies, in addition to 26 civilians. Among the civilian victims, 19 died in bombings by Russian aviation, six students died from the launch of rebel rockets against the university city of Aleppo and another civilian died from artillery fire.
The offensive takes place at a critical time, as Turkey seeks to reestablish diplomatic relations with the Bashar al-Assad regime, broken since the start of the civil war 13 years ago. However, Damascus demands that Ankara withdraw its troops from northern Syria and end its support for opposition groups as conditions for advancing negotiations.
The conflict has caused massive displacement in the affected areas. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 14,000 people, almost half of them children, have fled their homes in recent days, while 30 humanitarian organizations and 24 medical centers have suspended their operations. due to clashes. In the western neighborhoods of Aleppo, residents are leaving their homes fearing the approach of fighting, as the Syrian Army sends reinforcements to stop the rebel advance.
The Levant Liberation Agency has stated that this campaign is a response to the “intensification of recent airstrikes by Syrian and Russian forces against civilians in Idlib, as well as an attempt to preempt a possible attack by the Syrian Army, which has been massing troops near the front lines,” Reuters reports.
Although Türkiye and Russia negotiated a ceasefire for the Idlib region in 2020, sporadic clashes and shelling never completely stopped. This new outbreak of violence threatens to further destabilize northern Syria, a region devastated by more than a decade of civil war that has left more than half a million dead since it began in 2011, when the Assad regime violently repressed protests. pro-democratic.
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