Syrian armed groups launched a large-scale attack on areas controlled by government forces and seized territory in northwestern Syria, opposition groups said Thursday. The government and its allies responded with airstrikes and shelling to ward off the insurgent advances, activists said.
The violence has displaced thousands of families, and forced aid groups to suspend some of their services. Volunteers with the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, said at least 18 people, including three children and two women, were killed in two different villages in western Aleppo following airstrikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the airstrikes were from Russian warplanes.
Syria’s armed forces said Thursday the offensive was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which controls much of northwest Syria and is a violation of a de-escalation agreement. It said the attacks are ongoing and have targeted a number of villages and military bases.
Turkey, which backs Syrian opposition factions, and Russia and Iran, which have backed government forces, reached an agreement in late 2019 that effectively froze the line of the conflict and prevented government advances in Idlib province, which has been the last stronghold for a mix of radical groups and Turkey-backed Syrian forces.
“Our forces are confronting the terrorist organizations with different power and in collaboration with friendly forces to ensure the situation returns to how it was,” the army statement said.
Opposition factions launched the offensive early Wednesday and claimed in a series of statements on social media that they have wrestled control of over 15 villages from government forces in northwestern Aleppo, capturing a military base and hardware, and taking a number of soldiers hostage.
The offensive expanded Thursday to reach the countryside of Idlib province, where government forces control a major highway and a strategic town that was previously held by the insurgents, the armed groups and the Syrian Observatory said. The Associated Press could not independently verify those claims.
The opposition fighters said their offensive will allow the return of thousands of displaced people who were forced to flee government bombardment in recent weeks.
The offensive follows weeks of simmering violence in the area, where activists said government and allied Russian forces have stepped up their bombardment of parts of the last remaining stronghold of the opposition.
The International Rescue Committee said at least 7,000 families have been newly displaced by the escalating hostilities and some schools and health facilities have been forced to suspend services, including IRC’s own field operations.
The offensive also came as Iran-linked groups, who had backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own battle at home.
Israel and Hezbollah, the lead group in the Iran-backed alliance, have been locked in a war that escalated since September. A cease-fire was announced Wednesday, the day the Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks against Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria during the last 70 days.
Formerly known as the Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, HTS later changed its name several times and distanced itself from al-Qaida.
Russia, along with Iran, backed Syrian government forces soon after the anti-government protests in 2011 turned into a war. Turkey has backed an array of opposition forces and established military presence in parts of northwestern Syria. Meanwhile, the United States has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants largely in the east of the country.
Turkey said Thursday it was closely monitoring the offensive launched by the opposition groups in northern Syria. Unnamed defense ministry officials quoted in the state-run Anadolu Agency said Thursday the Turkish military had taken “all kinds of measures” to protect its troops in Syria.
Turkish security officials said on Thursday that Syrian opposition groups initially launched a “limited” offensive towards Aleppo, from where attacks targeting civilians originated. However, the offensive expanded as Syrian government forces began to retreat from their positions.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said opposition groups in Idlib had long planned an offensive to expel Syrian government forces and militias from the area to protect civilians. Turkey had previously prevented these operations to avoid escalating tensions in the region, especially amid Israel’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
The officials indicated that the offensive proceeded after Turkish diplomatic efforts to prevent government attacks were unsuccessful.
The aim of the offensive was to reestablish the boundaries of the de-escalation zone, according to the Turkish officials.
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Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey contributed to this report