Syrian rebels have moved into the center of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, euronews reported Saturday.
On Saturday, the Syrian army said, "The large numbers of terrorists and the multiplicity of battlefronts prompted our armed forces to carry out a redeployment operation aimed at strengthening the defense lines in order to absorb the attack, preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers, and prepare for a counterattack."
According to Reuters, the rebels now control the city of Maraat al Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province.
The achievements come just four days after Syrian rebels first began their surprise attacks, after years of relative quiet.
The New York Times noted that, "The timing of the assault suggested that the rebels could be exploiting weaknesses across an alliance linking Iran to the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as the Assad regime in Syria and others." The site added that the rebels declared a 5:00 p.m. curfew in Aleppo on Saturday, stressing that it is for the residents' safety.
Former Washington Post journalist Liz Sly wrote on X, "Simply astonishing advances by Syrian rebels into Aleppo. In just a few hours they’ve overrun parts of the city they couldn’t take in 4 years of fighting a decade ago. It goes to show how much the Assad regime was depending on Hezbollah and Iran for its survival."
In a later post, she added that the rebels have now reached the outskirts of Hama. Ynet quoted Syrian sources as saying that the Syrian army has retreated from Hama towards Homs, due to the the rebels' advances.
Richard Grenell, former acting director of US National Intelligence, claimed in a post on X that Russia is allowing the rebels to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In a Friday post, he wrote, "Russia seems to be letting the Syrian rebels overthrow Assad. Big. Time to play chess." In a different post that same day, he added, "They’ve been waiting until the weak Biden Administration was on their way out."
Turkish officials told RBC-Ukraine, on condition of anonymity, that opposition forces had "long planned" such an offensive, but that Turkey had previously prevented such operations so as to prevent an escalation of tensions in the region. Following the failure of Turkey's efforts to delay the offensive any longer, the rebels attacked.
Western officials told the site that the fighting "may have intensified" with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's approval, adding that Erdogan is seeking "stronger negotiating leverage" with Assad.
Anadolu reported that individuals close to the Assad government are fleeing from Aleppoto Damascus. Halab Today shared unconfirmed reports indicating that Assad himself may have fled to Moscow.
The reports follow a Friday attack on the city of Aleppo by Syrian rebels - three days after launching a surprise offensive against Assad’s troops, reported CNN.
The rebel forces have swept through several villages outside the city, reigniting the conflict that had been largely static for years.
An official Syrian military statement said the army was confronting a “major attack” and claimed it is “reinforcing all locations along the various battlefronts,” but multiple residents in the city claimed that regime forces have pulled back from several neighborhoods in the western part of Aleppo.
The rebels announced earlier they had seized control of the Syrian government’s Military Scientific Research Center on the outskirts of Aleppo city after “intense clashes with the regime forces and Iranian militias.”
The developments led Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold a Friday evening security consultation by phone with senior defense officials. Such consultations rarely take place during Shabbat, except when circumstances require it.
The reports ahead of the discussion indicated that it would focus on the latest dramatic developments in Syria, where fighting continues between rebel forces and the army of President Bashar Al-Assad.