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Syrian insurgents have cut a highway linking Damascus and Aleppo, a war monitor has said, after launching their biggest offensive in years against government forces in Syria’s north-west.
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions cut off the Damascus-Aleppo international M5 highway … in addition to controlling the junction between the M4 and M5 highways,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Opposition groups said the government and its allies have responded to the attack with with airstrikes and shelling. The violence has displaced thousands of families, and forced aid groups to suspend some of their services. Volunteers with the Syrian Civil Defence, 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 after airstrikes. The Syrian Observatory said the airstrikes were from Russian warplanes.
Syria’s armed forces said on Thursday that the offensive was led by the jihadist group HTS which controls much of north-west Syria, and is a violation of a de-escalation agreement. It said the attacks have continued and have targeted a number of villages and military bases.
Turkey, which backs Syrian opposition factions, reached an agreement in late 2019 with Russia and Iran, which have backed government forces, that in effect 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 organisations 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 on Wednesday and claimed in a series of statements on social media that they have wrested control of more than 15 villages from government forces in north-western Aleppo, capturing a military base and hardware, and taking a number of soldiers hostage.
The offensive expanded on 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 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.
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 in September. A ceasefire was announced on 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 past 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 north-western Syria. Meanwhile, the US has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants, largely in the east of the country.
Turkey said on Thursday it was closely monitoring the offensive launched by the opposition groups in northern Syria. Unnamed defence ministry officials quoted in the state-run Anadolu Agency said 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 during 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 re-establish the boundaries of the de-escalation zone, according to the Turkish officials.
Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report