On Sunday evening, Syrian rebels reportedly stormed President Bashar al-Assad’s palace in Aleppo, according to reports from Arab media outlets.
This takeover follows an offensive by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels, who advanced into Aleppo today and nearly surrounded the remaining pro-regime Syrian Arab Army (SAA) forces. This prompted the deployment of reinforcements from the SDF-Kurdish forces.
The palace was seized along with the Aleppo Military Academy nearby, with the rebels claiming they captured Russian air defense systems during the operation.
Currently, rebels control almost all of Aleppo, with the exception of several Kurdish-dominated neighborhoods in the northern part of the city, which remain under SDF control. The city has effectively been surrounded. Some reports suggested that HTS and the SDF were negotiating the withdrawal of SDF forces, although the SDF has denied such claims.
This marks the first time since the Battle of Aleppo (2012-2016) that the Assad regime has lost control of Syria’s second-largest city, signaling a significant weakening of the regime’s grip on power.
Reports suggest that all Assad troops have vacated the city, leaving only the northern Kurdish neighborhoods under SDF control, which were reinforced as regime forces withdrew.
The SDF and the SAA have coexisted in a tense balance since ISIS sought to seize the region a decade ago, effectively splitting the country into SDF-controlled (Kurdish-majority) and SAA-controlled (Arab-majority) areas.
In response to the collapse of Syrian forces in Aleppo, Iran has allegedly deployed Shia militias from Iraq, purportedly to protect Shia holy sites in Syria, notably the Sayyida Zaynab Mosque in Damascus. The mosque is revered by Twelver Shia Muslims as the burial place of Zaynab bint Ali, the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad. This is distinct from the mosque of the same name in Cairo, which is considered the burial site in Ismaili Shia Islam.
Sunni Jihadist groups, including those leading the Aleppo offensive, have historically targeted Shia holy sites amid the turmoil in the Middle East since 2011.
{Matzav.com Israel}