On 27 November, shortly after the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the terrorist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a significant offensive on the Syrian city of Aleppo. This invasion marks the most extensive assault by Islamist factions in Syria since the group’s major conflicts in 2016. Within 24 hours, HTS seized several areas west of Aleppo, including Al-Qasimiyyah, Al-Salum, Hayr Derkal, and Hor.
Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), reported that HTS, supported by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), captured 20 villages in Aleppo’s western suburbs. Field sources cited by Al-Mayadeen confirmed that SNA factions, comprising Syrian opposition forces, joined HTS in these offensives. In this context, Iranian outlets reported that Islamist rebels opposing Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria have advanced to within one kilometre of Aleppo’s outskirts. Menwhile, in response to the killing of IRGC commander Kiumars Asadi near Aleppo, the Islamic Republic of Iran has emphasised its continued full support for Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Sputnik reported that HTS and allied factions intensified their assaults against Syrian army positions early on Wednesday. Before these offensives, artillery and rocket barrages targeted villages and towns near Aleppo and Idlib. Sources revealed that HTS-aligned militias, including Al-Asaib al-Hamr, extended their attacks across multiple fronts in Aleppo and Idlib.
On Telegram, opposition factions claimed to have overtaken Base 46, the largest Syrian military base in the region, as well as tanks and personnel from pro-government forces. They also announced the capture of several villages in Aleppo’s western countryside.
Meanwhile, Al-Watan reported that Russian airstrikes injured several individuals and that Syrian forces clashed fiercely with HTS in Aleppo’s western outskirts. Syrian forces, citing Almayaeen, downed 15 drones and quadcopters used by militants, thwarting their strategic objectives in Aleppo and Idlib.
The Syrian regime’s General Command of the Army and Armed Forces issued its first official statement, declaring that HTS had initiated a large-scale offensive on Wednesday morning. The attack targeted villages, towns, and military positions in the Aleppo and Idlib countryside. Syrian forces were actively repelling the ongoing assault, inflicting substantial casualties and equipment losses on the attackers. The statement added that operations were being coordinated with allied forces to restore stability in the affected areas.
HTS, the most prominent takfiri terrorist group in northern Syria, comprises other extremist factions, including Suqour al-Sham, Jaish al-Shamal, the Turkistan Islamic Party, and Ajnad Qafqaz. It is widely recognised as al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate and designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
This offensive marks HTS’s first significant territorial advance since March 2020 when a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey halted military clashes in northwestern Syria. A Syrian army source confirmed that rebel forces advanced approximately 10 kilometers into Aleppo’s outskirts during the recent assaults.
