By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Syrian opposition groups have breached Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, after blowing up two car bombs and fighting with government forces on Friday in clashes that have killed some 200 people, a Syria war monitor and witnesses say.
Insurgents have been approaching Aleppo city for days and seized several towns and villages along the way.
The offensive came as Iran-linked groups, who had backed Syrian government forces since 2015, were preoccupied with their battles at home.
The latest fighting marked the first time in years that rebel forces in north-western Syria captured territory from President Bashar al-Assad’s military.
It came shortly after Israel and Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, agreed on a ceasefire deal that involved withdrawing from territory in southern Lebanon.
Additionally, Russia’s military, which also supports Syria’s government, faces challenges as well because of Moscow’s focus on the war in Ukraine.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the insurgents blew up two car bombs at the city’s western edge on Friday.
INSURGENT COMMANDER
An insurgent commander urged residents through social media to cooperate with the advancing forces.
The Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions said they had seized control of several towns and villages in Aleppo and Idlib provinces since Wednesday.
The Syrian military said its forces were confronting a “large-scale” attack by “terrorists” and inflicting heavy losses on them.
More than 180 combatants on both sides had been killed in the fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Additionally, at least 19 civilians had also been killed in Syrian and Russian air strikes on opposition-held areas, it added.
More than half a million people have been killed in the civil war that erupted after the government cracked down violently on peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011, according to official estimates.
Among those fleeing are also thousands of Christians, Worthy News established.
REMAINING STRONGHOLD
Idlib, where the current fighting occurs, is the last remaining opposition stronghold and is home to more than 4 million people. Many of these residents have been displaced during the armed conflict and are living in dire conditions, according to aid workers.
HTS mainly controls the enclave, but Turkish-backed rebel factions operating under the banner of the Syrian National Army (SNA) and Turkish forces are also based there.
In 2020, Turkey and Russia – a staunch ally of Assad – brokered a ceasefire to halt a push by the government to retake Idlib.
That led to an extended lull in violence, but sporadic clashes, air strikes, and shelling continued. Turkish media said the insurgents now control about 70 locations in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
Syria’s state media reported earlier Friday that “projectiles” from insurgents landed in the student accommodations at Aleppo’s university in the city center, killing four people, including two students.
The report said that public transportation to the city had also been diverted from the main highway linking Aleppo to Damascus to avoid clashes. Fighters reportedly also advanced on the town of Saragab, in northwestern Idlib province, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.
This week’s advances were one of the largest by opposition factions and amounted to the most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he plans to travel to the United States in the coming days for a key meeting with U.S. President Donald J. Trump, as Washington pushes for possible peace talks to end Russia’s nearly four-year-long war against Ukraine. Sources familiar with the matter said the talks could happen as early as Sunday and focus on potential paths toward ending Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two. Zelenskyy has stressed that any discussion of sensitive issues, including possible territorial compromises, must take place at … Read more
A Christian father of three was murdered in Pakistan’s Punjab province by Muslims over the Christmas holiday because of his faith in Christ, confirmed sources told Worthy News on Friday.
Millions of people across hard-hit California faced mounting challenges Friday as a powerful rain and wind storm, fueled by an atmospheric river from the Pacific, continued to batter large parts of the state, following weather-related deaths earlier in the week amid widespread flooding, debris flows, and power outages.
European monarchs used their televised Christmas speeches to call for compassion, unity, and responsibility in a year marked by war in Ukraine, deep divisions, and widespread anxiety over Europe’s future.
Bangladesh Opposition Leader Returns Home After 17 Years, Draws Massive Crowds By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent DHAKA (Worthy News)— Bangladesh opposition leader Tarique Rahman has returned home after 17 years in exile, pledging safety, justice, and national unity if he becomes the troubled nation’s next leader following elections expected in February. Rahman arrived in Dhaka from London, where he had lived in exile in the United Kingdom since 2008, according to party officials. Hundreds of thousands of supporters welcomed the aspiring prime minister in the capital, Dhaka, lining roads from the airport and gathering for a … Read more
The Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, one of Europe’s smallest countries, spent Christmas in shock over what authorities described as the worst killings in recent history, amid suspicions of a triple murder followed by suicide.
Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, marked its first Christmas celebrations since a ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hamas, though concern lingered among Christians following an arson attack near a church elsewhere in the West Bank.