The End of Assad? Syrian Rebels enter the outskirts of Aleppo for the first time since 2016

Perseverance The Second

Can't see any discussion on the board and for some reason no coverage of the matter on RTÉ but a variety of Syrian opposition forces have re-entered Aleppo.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-attack-clashes-aleppo-9c07da6f83036f34d4b18a479de9d085

Given the beating Hezbollah took at the hands of the IDF and Russia's focus on Ukraine the extent of the rebel advance cannot be overlooked

j62

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058382639/the-end-of-assad-syrian-rebels-enter-the-outskirts-of-aleppo-for-the-first-time-since-2016

Sort of got touched in parallel Russia thread where some Russians who helped Assad kill over 350,000 Syrians got liquidated in this offensive, and not many shed a tear for them

Further detail and background here

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwestern_Syria_offensive_%282024%29

CliffHangeroner

Seems they are actually ISIS rebranded for the task.

Dubh Geannain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058382639/the-end-of-assad-syrian-rebels-enter-the-outskirts-of-aleppo-for-the-first-time-since-2016

Lots of footage of rebels well inside Aleppo at this stage. Russian aircraft have been heavily bombing Idlib and areas behind the front line.

https://syria.liveuamap.com/

TheValeyard

Yep. Been done at a fairly fast speed too

https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1862504788895674820

z80CPU

On BBC News website now. A good positive if true.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly27r5p0yno

TheValeyard

In a bizarre way you may have to thank the Israelis for this. The decapitation of the Hezbollah commanders and destruction of their ammo depots has greatly reduced their capacity and influence. Hezbollah needs time to regroup, rebuild and plan ahead.

Also interesting is I think Russia had to withdraw some of its occupation forces and send them to fight as meat units in Ukraine.

I think Assad is currently on a visit to Putin in Moscow. If things keep going well for the rebels he may end up staying there.

Do not be surprised to hear Russia and Syrian loyalists resorting to barrell bombing campaigns or destruction of civilian urban centres.

TheValeyard

Footage inside the city

Rebels also claiming huge cache of weapons

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1862503901959762268

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1862490008026058754

TheValeyard

Its looking like a complete rout for the Syrian army, even with airpower

https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1862521759330623614

Also reports that government backed militia groups have switched sides and are now marching under rebel banners.

Be interesting to see where the Syrian army regroups with it's Russian and Iranian units.

Homelander

Seems odd that Government forces just melted away and there's negligible casualties for a development of this significance.

Shades of the decently-equipped Iraqi army just giving up their weapons, bases and vehicles and going home when ISIS appeared on the scene in tattered pick-ups.

Obviously Hezbollah and Iran taking such a beating lately, as well as Russia's disaster in Ukraine, are big factors, but I would have thought the SAA was in a better state than this.

L Grey

So Syria is fashionable again.

I must update my signature.

TheValeyard

Interesting if true

https://twitter.com/WarMonitor3/status/1862529218736771292

Sudden Valley

It does sound like good new but the distance to Damascus is 350kms. Syria is a huge country. Will wait to see if cities further South will fall now.

j62

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901638#Comment_122901638

350K+ dead civilians over 10 years due to Assad and Putin in Syria

It be interesting to see how many fecks those crying over in the Gaza/Lebanon threads give about this dumpster fire reigniting again

I suspect not many as can’t blame this on a global Jewish conspiracy

RoyalCelt

We we're talking about it in the Ukraine thread. This is a nightmare for Putin.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058370269/russia-ukraine-war-continuing

We've seen it before in Iraq, Afghanistan with American propped militaries and we're seeing it again in Syria with the Russian back regime. Leave these countries alone. Wasting trillions for ultimately no gains.

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901655#Comment_122901655

Yeah 4 hour hour motorway drive is fairly different for an advancing army. Might as well be four weeks

RoyalCelt

Aleppo will provide the Turkish backed rebels with a second major stronghold in Syria proper now with the safety net of Turkey itself.

https://twitter.com/WarMonitor3/status/1862535634750996519?t=G6co3eA8y88pL5ewuif10g&s=19

https://twitter.com/WarMonitor3/status/1862534352933961828?t=WpAsmJsqO52m6c0svhZDtg&s=19

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122900973#Comment_122900973

"seems"… you may be right, you may be wrong, do come back with a bit more evidence and corroboration than "seems"

TheValeyard

Rebels in the centre of New Aleppo. Taking down the regime flag.

https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1862539452746289304

j62

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901770#Comment_122901770

Aww just the flag? we hadn’t had a good statue toppling session in Middle East for 20 years, is that meant to be Assad on a horse?

riffmongous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901748#Comment_122901748

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122900973#Comment_122900973

Not true I think, they are rebranded Al-Qaeda.

Of course it's actually more complicated than that, there were dozens to over a hundred different groups of anti-gov fighters over the years, and many changed allegiance to the different rebel factions. Not only that but many joined the more extremist groups because they were the most effective, supplied and organized at times.

j62

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901790#Comment_122901790

Wikipedia has this

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahrir_al-Sham

The formation of HTS was followed by a string of assassinations of its supporters. In response, HTS launched a successful crackdown on Al-Qaeda loyalists, which cemented its power in Idlib.

Idlib is on north west of Syria, weren’t ISIS directly opposite side of country during civil war in in south east bordering Iraq

riffmongous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901803#Comment_122901803

Yeah pretty much, although at their largest extent ISIS might have extended that far west, the non-isis rebels also extended further east too. From what I can remember though Al-Nusra (the local Al-Qaeda affiliate) were some of the biggest opponents of ISIS at times (ISIS would have demanded their allegiance as Muslims).

If you look at even the info box for that group you can see what an absolute mess it is trying to understand and follow these groups

CliffHangeroner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901790#Comment_122901790

ISIS/ Al Qaeda what's the difference. We know how this ends when these guys get into power. I'm sure those cheering on these glorious "rebels" won't care much when the beheadings, rapes and executions start to hit our news feeds.

Don't get me wrong Assad and Russia are pure scum but sometimes it's better the devil you know..

riffmongous

So from what I can gather, Al-Nusra were affiliated with Al-Qaeda until 2016, then they split, with the group who rejected Al-Qaeda going on to form Tahrir al-Sham with other Islamist groups.

RoyalCelt

Actions speak louder than words but we'll see. You'd like to think Turkey wouldn't be backing these unless they've drop the insane element's. But as someone posted above it looks like the hardliners were ousted.

Let's hope so because the losers with extremism are always the innocent civilians.

https://twitter.com/azelin/status/1862540234082210252?t=zZ_1hxMCYOgykHw0FvSDTQ&s=19

@riffmongous the middle East is a nightmare to understand on a micro and macro level.

z80CPU

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901632#Comment_122901632

Well, the West supported Afghan "Army" was the precedent there. The start of the Taliban uprising to conquest of Afghanistan was so brief

j62

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901829#Comment_122901829

lol yeh trying make sense of all of these “Peoples” this “Liberation Front” that in all the names 😂

https://youtu.be/WboggjN_G-4?si=Fkyw0MBY6RHUCMNu

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901676#Comment_122901676

No one will care, probably close on 2 million dead in the greater region in the last 20 years and Iran a player in every conflict there.

The rebels aren't great shakes either, is assad the best of a bad lot is the unwanted thought that pops in.

Aren't these rebels al qaeda, people were protected who weren't sunni but paid jizya.

donaghs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901213#Comment_122901213

I’d never support Putin , Hezbollah or the Iranian mullahs.

But if I lived in Syria, I’d take the take the relatively secular dictatorship, over the chaos of another war, and the “rebels” dominated by Sunni religious fanatics.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901859#Comment_122901859

Truth was the populace didn't oppose the taliban, it was an easy win

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901626#Comment_122901626

Switching sides or deserting is the only way things ever move this fast. It will be tsars shot in basements and the last chopper leaving the embassy roof kinda stuff by the end of the night.

RoyalCelt

Syrian General Maher al-Assad, brother of President Bashar al-Assad, just said that troop gathering is finished within hours and that the SAA (Syrian Arab Army) will not allow Aleppo to fall.

Is this guy related to Baghdad Bob?

RoyalCelt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901896#Comment_122901896

You don't live there however and if you wanted you could have left like millions of Syrians did to Europe. These people stayed and as of now there is jubilation from the locals. Don't forget most of the anti Assad residents were pushed out to Idlib and and Turkey in their droves. Hopefully they can return.

What we should hope for is Aleppo not turning into the next Kabul where woman get less respect then a rat on the street.

It's a disaster for Russia but we'll soon find out if it's good or bad for the civilians.

https://twitter.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1862557429294072279?t=Gs7mltTMstCBsaPSPMHaHA&s=19

This could be celebrations in the rebel city of Idlib. Not confirmed if it's Aleppo yet.

Danzy

One Of the big step downs by Assad in the years before the civil war started was his outlawing of honour killing, the reaction from much of the country was not good and he had to back down.

In a region where compromise or tolerance is an incitement to attack you, it encouraged his enemies, many of them subsequently came to Europe when they lost but they are not out and may be about to storm through

Perseverance The Second

https://x.com/QalaatAlMudiq/status/1862596026206409182

The rebel groups have entered into the Municipal Building of Aleppo. A far deeper advance when compared to 2016. As things stand Aleppo will be out of Assad's control within a few days at most.

Danzy

.

Looks like they might be abandoning it entirely.

Turkey is a key player in this, we might end up seeing a split Syria with a big chunk being a Turkish dominated entity .

Turkey looks like being a hostile actor to Europe down the line, its well on that path

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122901676#Comment_122901676

surprised they arent tryna call for Ireland to swoop in and save Assad and try to get him to put manners on Israel.

RoyalCelt

Michael D Higgins is going to fly Assad back here on his personal jet. It's been a bad few days for Russian and Iranian terrorist sympathisers.

It looks like Aleppo and many other towns will fall tonight never mind this week. The question is where will Assad's forces regroup and try and hold the line. Losing Aleppo and the surrounding area is already a huge blow but in the next week we could see further changes.

Just a note the Iranian militias who occupied some of the nearby towns completely emptied them of civilians which inevitably worsened the refugee crisis in Europe and Turkey. Running the Iranians out of there will inevitably lead to some locals returning home which is a good thing.

To put Aleppo into context it would be like Ukraine storming Donetsk and retaking it in a 3 day operation. And as we know 3 Day operations are easier said then done.

whisky_galore

Hard to tell who the "good guys" are, if any, in this mess.

TheValeyard

Seems more militias see this as their opportunity.

https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1862623037889085613

Markus Antonius

Apart from the israeli genocide, I haven't really been following much goings on in the middle east.

Not sure why everyone supports the dethrowning of Russian-backed leaders? Nearly always results in the flooding to Europe of military-aged men.

RoyalCelt

The timing of Assad's visit to Moscow and I believe he's still there. I'd say Putin is strangling him the way Homer Simpson would to Bart.

There's a lot of fog of war tonight. Some claiming the city has been abandoned while others say reinforcements will make a stand in the Eastern side of Aleppo. We'll find out tomorrow when day breaks.

https://caliber.az/en/post/president-assad-arrives-in-moscow-amid-rising-tensions-in-syria

astrofool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122903498#Comment_122903498

Its the russian backed leaders that increase the numbers of refugees, this is a tactic russia has been using for a number of years to try and destabilise Europe.

Francie Barrett

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122902703#Comment_122902703

Replacing Assad for Isis is certainly no victory.

CliffHangeroner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122904193#Comment_122904193

It is to some here if it means Putin get's a bloody nose. Never mind what they'll do to women, young girls, Christians etc…

Assad is a piece of sh it and so is Putin for supporting him but these savages are not the answer.

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122902703#Comment_122902703

Bar the Kurds and FSA, think the rest are cnuts. Even have doubts about the FSA.

RoyalCelt

Looks like as government forces collapse the kurks and Turkish backed militants are trying to take up as many positions as possible. I hope these ultimately don't go to war with eachother. There have been clashes but nothing major so far.

Turkish backed rebels making gains heading south again. Whether they get stopped before taking the next major city of Homs and Hama will be very telling for the Assad regime.

riffmongous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122904607#Comment_122904607

The current FSA has little to do with the original FSA though, iirc the modern group is a faction that got Turkish backing and then took the name after the original faction melted away around 2013/2014.

The Kurds are the easiest to get behind but even they were accused of ethnic cleansing Arabs put of certain areas at times.

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122904846#Comment_122904846

Middle Eastern politics makes Game of Thrones look easy.

j62

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122904242#Comment_122904242

Another faux concern post

remind us how many women men and children your Russian comrades have raped and exterminated and kidnapped

Never mind the 350,000 civilians in Syria Russians helped kill