Aleppo crisis: What's really going on in Syria?

On November 30, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran Abbas Araghchi at the latter’s initiative.

During the conversation, the ministers expressed utmost concern over the dangerous escalation in Syria due to a terrorist assault by armed groups in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, and reaffirmed strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. 

The Ministers agreed on the need to intensify joint efforts so as to stabilise the situation in Syria and to comprehensively address the situation within the Astana format.

On November 30, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Foreign Minister of Türkiye Hakan Fidan.

Their conversation centred on the situation in Syria. Both parties expressed serious concern about the dangerous developments in Syria following the military escalation in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib.

The foreign ministers confirmed the importance of coordinating joint actions to stabilise the situation in Syria – primarily, by engaging the potential of the Astana format.

Terrorist groups have penetrated many areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo, the Syrian armed forces command said on Saturday, adding that the Syrian military is continuing to strike at the terrorist positions and is expecting the arrival of reinforcement, Sputnik informs from Cairo.

"In light of the large flow of terrorists across the northern borders and the strengthening of their military and technical support, terrorist groups have entered many areas of the city of Aleppo in recent hours," the statement read.

The terrorists are unable to fortify strongholds in the city due to the continuing strikes launched by the Syrian military, the statement also said. The Syrian forces are expecting the arrival of reinforcements and their deployment in all areas of combat operations, the statement added.

Dozens of Syrian soldiers have been killed in recent days in combat operations against terrorist groups in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, the Syrian Armed Forces Command said, adding that the army has regrouped to save civilian lives and prepare for a counterattack.

"In recent days, armed terrorist groups that are part of the Nusra Front* have carried out a large-scale offensive in Aleppo and Idlib with the support of thousands of foreign terrorists, heavy weapons and a large number of drones... During the fighting, dozens of people from our armed forces were killed and there are also people who were wounded," the statement read.

The terrorist influx and multiple fronts of clashes "prompted the Syrian armed forces to redeploy to strengthen defense lines in order to save the lives of civilians and soldiers and prepare for a counteroffensive."

The conflict in Syria has returned to the front pages after years of media obliviousness due to a lightning jihadist offensive on the strategic city of Aleppo. Here’s what we know right now, Sputnik notes.

Militants from al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), linked terrorist group Tahrir al-Sham (terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries), and the so-called ‘Syrian National Army’ began an offensive toward Aleppo on November 27.

The jihadists were able to assemble forces for the operation in Idlib, a province of Syria controlled by terrorists since 2015, and into which tens of thousands of militants fled between 2016-2018 amid Syrian army operations to liberate major cities in the west and south.

Militants advanced through dozens of villages and towns west of Aleppo in the first hours of the offensive, capturing multiple strategic settlements, and reportedly cutting the key M5 Motorway linking Aleppo with Damascus.

The Syrian army responded with air and artillery strikes into areas of Idlib and Aleppo province, including the city of Idlib itself, as well as the towns of Ariha and Sarmada. Russian jets targeted concentrations of terrorists in Atarib, Darat Izza, Mare and elsewhere. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces fighters also mobilized to help defend the city.

Strikes reportedly killed two senior jihadist commanders involved in the assault on Aleppo.

Iran confirmed that Brig. Gen. Kioumars Pourhashemi of the IRGC, an advisor to Syrian forces, was killed on the first day of the assault.

Terrorist forces penetrated defenses in Aleppo proper on Friday, carrying out suicide bombing attacks, clashing with local defenders, and reportedly occupying the city’s world-famous Citadel Saturday morning.

Syrian forces began a counterattack on Friday. The army reported the destruction of dozens of armored vehicles and the liquidation of hundreds of fighters in Idlib and Aleppo, including what it said were foreign mercenaries.

In a statement Saturday, the Syrian army acknowledged the advance of terrorists into “many areas of the city of Aleppo,” but said fighting was continuing to prevent them from gaining a permanent foothold.

The army said “dozens” of Syrian servicemen had been killed or injured in the course of defensive operations against “thousands of foreign terrorists” armed with “heavy weapons and a large number of drones.”

The terrorist offensive on Aleppo began the same day the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon entered into force, although the jihadists claim it was tied to recent Syrian strikes targeting terrorist commanders in Idlib – where a shaky Russia and Turkiye-mediated ceasefire had been in place since 2020.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi assured his Syrian counterpart Bassam al-Sabbagh Friday that Iran would continue to support Damascus’ fight against the jihadists. Araghchi characterized the resurgence of terrorism in northern Syria as a US-Israeli plot aimed at destabilizing West Asia after the IDF “failures” confronting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Veteran international affairs observer Seyed Mohammad Marandi echoed this sentiment in an interview with Sputnik on Friday.

The terrorist advance on Aleppo puts additional pressure on the Syrian government as it combats a long-term foreign-backed jihadist proxy war aimed at overthrowing President Assad, illegal US bases on Syrian soil in the country’s oil and food-rich east and south, and a decades-old conflict with Israel exacerbated by the Gaza and Lebanon crises.

For Syria’s enemies, keeping the nation in a perpetual state of war also serves several important goals, including: preventing President Assad from declaring total victory in the proxy war against him by the US and its allies, stopping Syria from fully normalizing ties with neighbors, depriving Syria’s allies – Iran and Russia, of a stable, prosperous partner in a key region.

…The outgoing Biden administration is trying to create as many hot spots in the world as possible to make it difficult for Trump to fulfill his promise. Trump famously said, “I will end all wars.”

We can expect conflicts to unfold in other parts of the world in the near future. These conflicts provoked by Washington, perhaps to see a sharp reaction, for example, from Moscow and thereby cancel Trump's inauguration under the pretext of a “state of emergency.” This is how domestic politics in America and the fight between Democrats and Republicans are beginning to influence the international situation and the aggravation of global crises.

The most important thing is that it is now impossible to say exactly who makes decisions in Washington? And, perhaps, it is no longer Biden, but unknown people.

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