Syrian authorities shut down Aleppo airport after rebels stormed the city in a shocking attack

Syrian authorities closed Aleppo's airport and all roads leading into the city on Saturday, three military sources told Reuters, as rebels against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claimed to have reached the heart of the city.

Opposition forces, led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, made a surprise advance on government-held towns this week, reaching Aleppo nearly a decade after they were forced out of the northern Syrian city.

Robert Ford, the last US ambassador to Syria, said the attack showed the Syrian government's forces were “very weak.” In some cases, he said, it seems they are “almost glorified.”

Russia, Assad's main ally, has promised Damascus more military aid to counter the rebels, two military sources said, adding that new hardware would begin arriving in the next 72 hours.

The Syrian army has been told to follow orders to “withdraw safely” from major areas of the city where the rebels have entered, three military sources said.

The rebels began their attack on Wednesday and by the end of Friday, the center that represents the insurgency said that they were sweeping in different areas of Aleppo. Residents fled from neighborhoods on the edge of town because of arrows and guns, according to witnesses.

They returned to the city for the first time since 2016, when Assad and his allies Russia, Iran, and regional Shia militias retook it, and the rebels agreed to withdraw after months of attacks and sieges.

Mustafa Abdul Jaber, commander of the Jaish al-Izza rebel group, said their rapid advance this week was aided by a lack of Iranian-backed personnel in the wider Aleppo province. Iran's allies in the region have suffered a number of incidents at the hands of Israel as the war in Gaza has escalated in the Middle East.

Opposition fighters said the operation was aimed at increasing strikes in recent weeks against civilians by Russian and Syrian forces in rebel-held areas of Idlib, and to end any further attacks by Syrian forces.

Dareen Khalifa, a senior adviser to the International Crisis Group and an expert on Syrian factions, said the rebels had signaled for a while that they were ready to attack. But no one expected the advance of the army in Aleppo.

“Not only are the Russians distracted and trapped in Ukraine, but also the Iranians are distracted and focused elsewhere. Hezbollah is distracted and focused elsewhere, and the regime is completely banned,” he said.

“But the surprising thing comes from how quickly the regime collapsed.”

Opposition sources linked to Turkish intelligence said Turkey had given the green light to the attack.

But Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said Turkey wants to avoid further instability in the region and warned the latest attacks undermine economic withdrawal agreements.

The biggest attack in years

The attack is the largest since March 2020, when Russia and Turkey agreed on an agreement to end the conflict.

On Friday, Syrian state television denied that rebels had reached the city and said Russia was providing air support to the Syrian army.

The Syrian army claimed responsibility for the attack and inflicted heavy losses on rebels in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib.

David Carden, the UN's Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syrian crisis, said, “We are deeply shocked by the situation in northwest Syria.

“The relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 people, including eight-year-old children.”

The Syrian news agency, SANA, said that four civilians, including two students, were killed on Friday in Aleppo by shooting at university student dormitories. It was not clear if they were among the 27 dead reported by the UN official.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow considers the rebel attack a violation of Syrian sovereignty.

“We agree with the Syrian authorities to bring order to the area and restore the constitution as soon as possible,” he said.