Syrian government loses Aleppo after lightning rebel offensive: monitor

Aleppo falls to rebels in Syria, dealing a severe blow to Assad as government forces lose control.

Government forces lost control of Syria's second city Aleppo on Sunday (December 1, 2024) for the first time since the country's civil conflict began, a war monitor said, after a lightning offensive dealt a severe blow to President Bashar al-Assad.

An Islamist-dominated rebel alliance launched its assault on forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed government on Wednesday, the same day a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah after two months of all-out war.

The jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied factions now "control Aleppo city, except the neighbourhoods controlled by the Kurdish forces", Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.

For the first time since the civil war started more than a decade ago, "Aleppo city is out of control of Syrian regime forces", he said.

The Observatory said Syrian and Russian aircraft staged deadly strikes on Sunday (December 1, 2024) in support of the government.

It said at least 12 people were killed in the city, raising an earlier toll of five from attacks targeting the area near Aleppo university.

Russian strikes also killed eight civilians, including two children and a woman, in the rebel bastion of Idlib, the Observatory said.