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Les rebelles prennent le contrôle d'Alep
- Les rebelles du groupe Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ont pris le contrôle de grandes parties d'Alep, la plus grande ville de Syrie, après une offensive surprise cette semaine.
- La reprise des combats à Alep marque une nouvelle phase dans la longue guerre civile en Syrie, qui a débuté en 2011 lors des manifestations du Printemps arabe.
- Les forces du président syrien Bachar al-Assad contrôlaient auparavant Alep, avec le soutien de leurs alliés, l'Iran et la Russie.
- La Russie a répondu à l'offensive rebelle par des frappes aériennes, même si ses ressources militaires devraient être limitées en raison de la poursuite de sa guerre en Ukraine.
source : Keghart
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Les acronymes des principales forces en présence :
- HTS: Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Idlib-based rebel group leading the ongoing military offensive. HTS is the latest iteration of the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s former branch in Syria. Al-Nusra rebranded itself and severed its ties to al-Qaeda in 2016. But HTS remains on the US list of “foreign terrorist organisations”
- SAA: The Syrian Arab Army, the government’s main fighting force
- SNA: The Syrian National Army, a Turkish-backed rebel force operating in northern Syria
- FSA: The Free Syrian Army, one of the first organised rebel groups to form after the uprising in 2011. It operated as an umbrella coalition before splintering. It was eventually succeeded by the SNA.
- SDF: The Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-dominated, US-backed group that controls parts of eastern Syria
- NDF: The National Defence Forces, a pro-government paramilitary group that fights alongside the Syrian military
- ISIL (ISIS): The Islamic State in the Levant is also known as the “Islamic State in Syria” and simply, the “Islamic State”. Considered a hardline group, it controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria until its territorial defeat in 2017. The northern city of Raqqa was its de-facto capital in Syria.
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Arab League ‘anxiously watching’ events in Syria
The 22-country bloc has called for respecting the unity and sovereignty of Syria.
Arab League spokesman Jamal Rushdi also voiced concern that “terrorist groups” may exploit the violence to “resume their activities”.
The Arab League re-admitted Syria to the organisation in 2023, a dozen years after suspending the country’s membership over its deadly crackdown on antigovernment protests during the “Arab Spring” movement.
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How will the US react to the rebel offensive in Syria
Joshua Landis, a Middle East studies professor at the University of Oklahoma, said he anticipates wariness from the US, despite its longtime collaboration with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition.
Together, the US and the SDF control about 25 percent of Syria’s territory, including many oil-rich regions.
“America is going to want to stay out of this. The trouble is, it’s going to come back to bite them because they have depended on supporting the Kurds,” Landis said.
But the US alliance with the Kurds puts the country on a crash course with Turkiye, which views the ethnic group as a threat. Turkiye considers groups like the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as “terrorist” organisations.
“Turkey is going to want the Americans to leave, and it’s going to want to attack the Kurds,” Landis said.
“That’s one of their major objectives in this. The rebels want to go to Damascus, but Turkey wants to go and get rid of the YPG. So that’s going to put America in the hot seat. They’re going to have to choose between Turkey and the Kurds. And it’s likely that President Trump, the new incoming president, will choose Turkey over the Kurds.”
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UAE’s MBZ calls for ‘peaceful resolution’ to Syrian crisis
We reported earlier that al-Assad held a phone call with his Emirati counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Now, Abu Dhabi has released a readout of the conversation through its official news agency WAM.
“His Highness affirmed the UAE’s solidarity with Syria and support against terrorism and extremism,” it said.
“He also stressed the UAE’s position in support of efforts and initiatives to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis that would achieve the aspiration of the brotherly Syrian people for stability and development and ensure the unity of Syria and its sovereignty over its entire territory.”
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Seven killed in northwest Syria: Civil Defence
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The White Helmets group says attacks by Russian and Syrian government forces in northwestern Syria on Saturday have killed seven people, including three children and one woman.
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‘Extraordinary energy’ among rebel forces:
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Joshua Landis, a professor of Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, noted a contrast between the enthusiasm among the rebel forces and the exhaustion among Syrian government fighters.
After the success of this week’s lightning offensive in Aleppo, Landis pointed out that the rebels are riding high.
“The opposition has, I think, far exceeded what it set out to do. And when [the rebel fighters] realised there was very little that the Syrian military was willing to fight for and began to just melt away, they’ve been on a roll,” he explained. “There’s extraordinary energy and excitement amongst the rebel forces.”
That excitement is a point of divergence with the Syrian military. Landis said the dismal state of Syria’s economy has fed dissatisfaction among government troops.
“Many Syrians were hoping that the economic situation would improve, jobs would come back [and] state services like electricity, schools and so forth would revive. And none of that has happened,” Landis explained.
“In fact, the economy has continued to shrink. People have no jobs. They’re making $20 a month. And they’re hungry. And they see no positive future for them, with Assad in the government. And that means they don’t want to fight.”
Syria’s military also has little hope of receiving much foreign assistance, given the fact that its allies, like Iran, Russia and Hezbollah in Lebanon, are occupied with other conflicts elsewhere.
“Its allies are really on the sidelines and unable to come to its aid,” Landis said. “The spirit has really gone out of the Syrian military.”
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Syrian army accuses rebels of spreading lies
The Syrian military says armed opposition groups are using their platforms as part of a coordinated “media war” to spread fake news and affect the morale of the Syrian people.
The army did not specify which rebel claims were false, but it said the groups were taking advantage of the “field events” in Aleppo to target other cities with rumours.
“The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces urges against paying attention to these pages or believing their reports,” it said. v4
“Our courageous army has been and will remain present strongly and steadfast to perform its duties of defending the country and citizens against all forms of terrorism.”
With few independent journalists on the ground, rumours benefitting different sides in the war have been spreading online.
The Syrian government, ISIL (ISIS) and rebel groups have detained and harmed journalists in recent years.
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Rebels decree the reopening of bakeries in Aleppo
Armed Syrian opposition groups say bakeries in Aleppo will operate throughout the night and the following day after a curfew was imposed on the city.
“We ask all bakery workers to return to their jobs to continue to provide bread to our people,” they said in a statement.
source : Al Jazeera & les agences de news
photo : Elise Boghossian / EliseCare en Syrie
