Syrian forces, militants clash amid reports of breach into Aleppo
Iran: Reactivation of terrorists in Syria ‘US-Zionist plot’
The Syrian Army said on Friday it had repelled surprise attacks by a coalition of foreign-backed militants on Aleppo as reports suggested that the insurgents had entered the country’s second-largest city.
In a statement, Syria’s Armed Forces said it had been clashing with militants in the countryside around Aleppo and Idlib, destroying several of their drones and heavy weapons. It vowed to push back the assault, saying that the militants were spreading false information about their advances.
The army statement also said troops regained control of positions that had been taken by the militants in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside.
Meanwhile a Syrian security official, requesting anonymity, told the state-run SANA news agency that reinforcements had arrived in Aleppo.
“There are fierce battles and clashes west of Aleppo, but they have not reached the city,” the official added.
It was the first time the city had been attacked by militant groups, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) since 2016, when they were ousted from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods.
The HTS and allied factions claimed that they had seized a number of towns and villages in Aleppo and Idlib Provinces after launching an offensive on Wednesday – the same day that a fragile cease-fire took effect in neighboring Lebanon between Israel and resistance group Hezbollah.
The militants claimed to have captured the critical town of Khan Tuman on the outskirts of Aleppo, local sources reported.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that the Syrian Army, backed by the Russian Air Force, had inflicted heavy losses on the militants and their equipment in Aleppo and Idlib.
Oleg Ignasyuk, the deputy head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said that at least 400 terrorists affiliated to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, had been killed.
‘US-Zionist plot’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described on Friday the reactivation of militant groups in Syria as a plot orchestrated by the US and Israel following the occupying regime’s defeat in Lebanon and Palestine.
During a phone conversation with his Syrian counterpart, Bassam al-Sabbagh, Araghchi reiterated Tehran’s support for the Syrian government, its people, and the army in their fight against terrorism, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding regional security and stability.
The phone call came a day after Iranian Brigadier General Kioumars Pourhashemi, a military advisor of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), was killed the northwestern province of Aleppo.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-sponsored militancy since March 2011, with Damascus saying the Western states and their regional allies are aiding terrorist groups to wreak havoc in the Arab country.