Insurgents breached Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, after blowing up two car bombs Friday and were clashing with government forces on the city’s western edge, according to a Syria war monitor and fighters.
It was the first time the city had been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when they were ousted from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran, and its allied groups.
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Witnesses in Aleppo city said residents have been fleeing neighborhoods on the western edge of the city because of missiles and exchanges of fire. The government did not comment on insurgents breaching city limits.
Syria’s Armed Forces said in a statement Friday it has been clashing with insurgents in the countryside around Aleppo and Idlib, destroying several of their drones and heavy weapons. It vowed to repel the attack and accused the insurgents of spreading false information about their advances.
Thousands of insurgents have been advancing toward Aleppo city since a shock offensive they launched Wednesday, seizing several towns and villages along the way.
The offensive came as Iran-linked groups, which had backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own battle at home.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the insurgents blew up two car bombs Friday at the city’s western edge.
An insurgent commander issued a recorded message posted on social media calling on the city’s residents to cooperate with the advancing forces.
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Turkey state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the opposition insurgents entered Aleppo city center Friday. It said the insurgents “broke through the defense lines of the regime forces along the Hamdaniyya, New Aleppo, and Zahra axis on the outskirts of the city.”
It added the insurgents now control approximately 70 locations in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
