Chethana Janith, Jadetimes Staff
C. Janith is a Jadetimes news reporter covering science and geopolitics.
Syrian terrorist organisations have launched their largest attacks in recent years against the Syrian Army in the north and northwest of the country. These offensives have enabled them to seize control of much of Aleppo and advance into the city of Hama.
The Syrian Army has acknowledged that armed groups have taken control of “a significant portion of the city of Aleppo” and reported the deaths of dozens of soldiers in clashes along a 100-kilometre front line. Amidst this unprecedented escalation, questions arise about the nature of the attacks, their underlying motives, and Syria’s future. Additionally, renewed concerns have surfaced over the deteriorating humanitarian crisis faced by the Syrian people, which has persisted since the war began in 2011.
Which Armed Groups Are Involved in the Attack?
The primary force involved in the assault is the Islamist militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham*, formed in January 2017 from the merger of several jihadist factions. The group is also joined by “Ahrar al-Sham*”, a Syrian opposition organisation established through the unification of four Syrian Islamist groups. Based in Idlib and rural areas of Aleppo and Hama, Ahrar al-Sham operates alongside the National Front for Liberation, a coalition formed by 11 factions of the Free Syrian Army in 2018.
Rebels from the Syrian National Army (SNA), an alliance of Turkish-backed factions created in 2017, were also observed in the fighting. The SNA opposes both the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are backed by the United States. Smaller and medium-sized groups, such as the Turkish-supported Nur ad-Din al-Zenki Brigades and Jaysh al-Izza, led by Major Jamil al-Saleh, a defector from the Syrian Army, are also believed to be participating in the assault.
Darin Khalifa, a researcher at the International Crisis Group, conducted an investigation into the attack and noted that these terrorist groups had been preparing for months. “They framed it as a defensive move against an escalation planned by the regime,” Khalifa told AFP. She further stated that Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and its allies “are also considering broader changes on regional and geostrategic levels.”
Why Did the Attack Occur Now
Various theories have emerged about why the armed groups chose this specific moment to strike the Syrian Army. The most prominent suggests that they exploited a power vacuum and the weakening of the Syrian Army caused by the withdrawal of Iranian forces, President Bashar al-Assad’s primary ally, which were engaged in supporting Hezbollah in recent clashes with Israel.
The timing of the attack coincided with a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, indicating that the groups may be seeking to establish new realities in northern Syria by expelling Iran from Syrian territory before its forces can regroup. Additionally, Arab media report that the militants took advantage of Russia’s focus on critical events in its war with Ukraine, imposed by the West. According to a report by Safinaz Mohamed Ahmed, an expert in Arab political affairs at the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, Russia, due to its preoccupation, has handed over some of its military observation posts in Syria to Iranian forces.
A thorough analysis of the unfolding situation has led Iran to justly accuse Israel and the United States of orchestrating the recent attacks by armed groups in Syria. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described these offensives as an “American-Zionist plan devised after the defeat of the Zionist regime in Lebanon and Palestine.” According to the Tasnim News Agency, Major General Hossein Salami, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), stated that following the “strategic defeats” suffered by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, “takfiri terrorist groups, under the direction and support of those defeated on the battlefields of Gaza and southern Lebanon, have recently launched brutal new attacks on Syria.”
He further revealed that Israeli airstrikes on Syria resulted in the death of IRGC Commander Hashim Borhashemi, known as Hajj Hashim, who was regarded as one of Iran’s senior military advisers in Syria.
Netanyahu’s Warning
The validity of this analysis is underscored by the fact that hours before the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He condemned what he termed “playing with fire” by allowing the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah through Syrian territory, and explicitly threatened retaliatory measures against Syria. Some observers suggest that Israel aims to establish a buffer zone along its border with Syria, pushing Iranian forces out of the region and cutting Hezbollah’s supply routes from Syria to Lebanon. Israel’s recent airstrikes on Syria, particularly those targeting Palmyra, are seen as evidence of this objective.
The United States, as usual, denies any involvement in the attacks on Aleppo. However, the illegal presence of its forces on Syrian territory, alongside its Kurdish allies from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), raises questions about its awareness of the ongoing developments. Unsurprisingly, reports indicate that SDF rebels recently received new American weapons, which they used in the fighting.
John Kirby, spokesperson for the US National Security Council, ominously claimed that the Assad government’s “refusal to engage in the political process and its reliance on Russia and Iran” created the conditions leading to the collapse of the Syrian Army in the northwest. He theatrically added, “We will also continue to ensure the full protection of American personnel and military facilities, which remain necessary to prevent ISIS from resurging in Syria.” Just some sort of peacemaker with a laurel wreath on their head and a dove of peace in their hands. One only needs to recall, as the nations of the world well remember that it was the United States that created Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), was involved in the creation of ISIS (banned in Russia), and, together with the monarchic regimes of the Persian Gulf, unleashed a civil war in Syria, from which the Syrian people are still unable to recover.
The Endless Tragedy of the Syrian People
The military operations in northwest Syria, particularly in and around Aleppo, have resulted in the mass displacement of thousands of people. Syrians have fled to various areas, from government-controlled central Aleppo to northwestern Idlib near the Turkish border and other relatively safer regions. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 15,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to the violence, nearly half of whom are children. The UN further reported that some families have been relocated to collective shelters in Hama from Aleppo and Idlib. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented at least 277 fatalities in the initial military operations.
Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, more than 300,000 civilians have lost their lives, while millions remain internally displaced or as refugees within and beyond Syria’s borders. Such is the brutality of the unipolar world order, shaped by the West under US leadership, which seeks to maintain its dominance even at the cost of innocent lives.
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