Syrian opposition fighters have pushed back government forces around Aleppo in a surprise offensive, rapidly expanded the territory under their control in northwestern Syria. On Wednesday, they battled pro-government forces on the outskirts of Hama.

The lightning assault on Aleppo by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham abruptly redrew the front lines of Syria’s civil war.

Russian forces in Syria are under attack from rebel groups in the Syrian capital, Aleppo, in response to increased strikes.

By Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) -Syrian rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday they had reached the heart of the northern city of Aleppo, after a surprise sweep through government-held towns and nearly a decade after having been forced out of the city.

A monitor of Syria's war said on Saturday that rebels controlled most of Aleppo, reporting Russian air strikes on parts of Syria's second city for the first time since 2016.

Syria’s economy has collapsed: unemployment is high, inflation higher. The army is full of young men pressganged into long service for low pay. Mr Assad might find loyalists willing to fight for their own villages,

Source: Institute for the Study of War and AEI Critical Threats Project. Data as of Dec. 3, 2024. On Nov. 26, Syrian rebels launched a surprise offensive, attacking from areas to the north and northwest of Aleppo.

Images shared on social media have illustrated the anger that Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad feel toward his ally Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader has been indispensable in propping up Assad's regime during the brutal Syrian civil war that started in 2011 but has been essentially frozen over the last four years.

Rebels captured Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo, over the weekend and advanced toward Hama in a surprise incursion that reignited Syria's 13-year-old civil war and embarrassed President Bashar al-Assad's forces.