Rebels launched assault same day as Hezbollah-Israel truce in Syria
3/12/2024 5:55
Syrian rebel fighters began
preparations to seize Aleppo a year ago but the assault was
delayed by war in Gaza and ultimately launched last week when a
ceasefire took hold in Lebanon, the head of Syria's main
opposition abroad told Reuters.
The insurgents were able to seize the city and other areas
so quickly in part because Hezbollah and other Iran-backed
fighters who support Syria's president were still distracted by
their conflict with Israel, Hadi al-Bahra said on Monday.
The Turkish military, which is allied with some of the
insurgents and has bases across its southern border in Syria,
had heard of the armed groups' plans but made clear it would
play no direct role, he added in the first public comments on
the rebel preparations by an opposition figure.
The assault in northwestern Syria was launched last
Wednesday, the day that Israel and Lebanese armed group
Hezbollah began a truce ending more than a year of fighting.
"A year ago they (the rebels) started really training and
mobilizing and taking it more seriously," said Bahra, president
of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition
Forces, the internationally-recognised Syrian opposition.
"But the war on Gaza ... then the war in Lebanon delayed it.
They felt it wouldn't look good having the war in Lebanon at the
same time they were fighting in Syria," he said in an interview
in his Istanbul office.
"So the moment there was a ceasefire in Lebanon, they found
that opportunity ... to start."
Rebel commanders have separately said they feared if they
had started their assault earlier, it might have looked like
they were helping Israel, who was also battling Hezbollah.
The rebel operation is the boldest advance and biggest
challenge to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in years in a
civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.
Syrian and allied Russian forces have launched counter
attacks, which Bahra said are "destabilising" Aleppo and Idlib.
RUSSIA, IRAN, HEZBOLLAH
The opposition retaking of Aleppo also paves the way for
Syrians displaced elsewhere in the country and up to 600,000 in
Turkey to eventually return home, Bahra said.
"Due to the Lebanese war and decrease in Hezbollah forces,
(Assad's) regime has less support," he said, adding Iranian
militias also have fewer resources and Russia is giving less air
cover due to its "Ukraine problem".
Asked about any prior Turkish awareness of Syrian
rebels' plans, a Turkish official told Reuters "there was no
such thing as our country's permission or support".
Hezbollah did not immediately comment on whether its war
with Israel opened the door to Syrian rebel advances in Aleppo,
where it also had personnel.
Damascus did not immediately comment on whether it risks
destabilising the region with air raids.
Assad has vowed to crush the insurgents. Tehran has pledged
to aid his government and hundreds of fighters from Iran-backed
Iraqi militias have crossed into Syria to help.
The insurgents are a coalition of Turkey-backed mainstream
secular armed groups spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or
HTS, an Islamist group that has been designated a terrorist
outfit by Turkey, the U.S., Russia and other states.
Bahra's coalition, which does not include HTS, represents
anti-Assad groups including the Turkey-backed Syrian National
Army or Free Syrian Army, which took territory north of Idlib
over the last week.
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