Syrian rebels claim to have entered the country’s second largest city

Rebels in Syria have seized control of several neighborhoods in the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo, according to the British-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The move is the biggest offensive against the Syrian government in years and the first time rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have reached Aleppo since they were ousted by the army in 2016.

A video posted on a channel linked to the militant Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) appears to show rebel fighters in vehicles inside the city.

BBC Verify geolocated the footage in a western suburb of the city.

Government forces, meanwhile, say they have recaptured positions in several cities in Aleppo and Idlib provinces following an offensive by HTS and allied factions on Wednesday.

More than half a million people have been killed in the civil war that erupted after the government cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011.

A number of armed groups opposed to the Assad government – including jihadists – took advantage of the unrest to seize vast areas.

The Syrian government later recaptured most of the lost territory, with help from Russia and other allies.

Idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold, is largely controlled by HTS, but Turkish-backed rebel groups and Turkish forces are also based there.

On Friday, a statement released on the rebel-affiliated channel said: “Our troops have begun to enter the city of Aleppo.”

Videos confirmed by the BBC show gunmen walking along a road about seven kilometers (4.3 miles) from Aleppo’s medieval citadel in the center of the city.

Another clip confirmed by the BBC showed large groups of people with luggage leaving an area near Aleppo University. This video was shot three kilometers from a location where HTS-affiliated media claims rebels have entered the city.

According to the government, reinforcements have now reached Aleppo and are driving out the rebels.

SOHR, which draws on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, reported that Syrian and Russian aircraft carried out 23 airstrikes on the Aleppo region on Friday.

SOHR said 255 people were killed in the fighting, the deadliest between rebels and pro-government forces in Syria in years.

Fighting in Idlib had largely subsided since 2020 when Turkey and Russia, Syria’s main ally, negotiated a ceasefire to stop a government push to retake the province.

But on Wednesday, HTS and its allies said they had launched their offensive to “deter aggression” and accused the government and allied militias of escalation in the region.

It came as the Syrian government and its allies were preoccupied with other conflicts.

In neighboring Lebanon, an Israeli military campaign has crushed the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, whose fighters helped turn the tide in the Syrian civil war.

Israel has also increased its airstrikes in Syria on targets linked to Iran and Iranian-backed groups.