Aleppo Has Fallen, Assad’s Forces Regrouping As Rebels Blitz South

Aday after entering Aleppo, rebels have reportedly seized most of the city, Syria’s second-largest, pushed south toward Hama and captured much of Idlib province on Saturday in their surprise offensive launched on Thursday. In reaction, the Russian Air Force bombarded rebel positions in Aleppo, the first time they’ve struck the city in any robust capacity in the better part of a decade . Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports of a coup attempt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the capital of Damascus.

You can catch up with our previous report on the rebel advance here.

Led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, this offensive is its first major attack against the regime in four years and comes as Iran’s top proxy force Hezbollah and Russia – Assad’s biggest backers – are embroiled in their own conflicts. Hezbollah, which supports the Assad regime, has been greatly degraded after open conflict with Israel and some Russian resources have been realigned away from Syria to fight in Ukraine. HTS, formerly an al-Qaida-affiliated group known as al-Nusra Front, has since cut its ties to the notorious Sunni jihadi organization.