A coalition of Syrian rebels advanced deep into Aleppo and reportedly reached the city’s ancient citadel during a rapid offensive against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The attack marked the government’s largest territorial setback in years and brought heavy fighting back to Syria’s second-largest city after a period in which front lines had been comparatively stable.
The offensive began on November 27 and was led by the hardline Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. By November 29, the coalition had taken more than 50 towns and villages in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Fighters then entered western Aleppo and captured five neighborhoods with little significant resistance from government forces, the monitoring group’s director said. An AFP correspondent reported clashes in the New Aleppo district.
Reports that rebels had entered the citadel came from Syria TV, citing military sources, and from images and footage circulating online. The reporting organization supplying the evidence said it could not independently verify all of that material. It also reported that the rebel coalition imposed a curfew as part of an effort to secure the city and that other footage appeared to show detainees being freed from a government prison.
Government and opposition accounts diverged as the assault unfolded. Syrian state media said shelling by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham killed four civilians in a student residence. An army statement said government troops had repelled the attack and regained some positions, while a Syrian security official said reinforcements had arrived. Syrian authorities also closed Aleppo airport and canceled flights, according to a military source cited by Reuters.
Beyond Aleppo, rebels captured Saraqib, a strategically located town on the route toward the city, according to the Observatory. The coalition had also cut the M5 highway linking Aleppo with Damascus. Those gains raised concerns among residents about renewed displacement, interrupted supplies and higher fuel prices.
The Observatory said 277 people had been killed in the fighting by the time covered in the report, including 28 civilians, most of whom it attributed to Russian airstrikes. The United Nations humanitarian office said more than 14,000 people had been displaced and that nearly half were children. These figures reflected early reporting during an active and fast-changing battle.
Russian and Syrian aircraft conducted intensive strikes around the opposition-held Idlib area. Russia said it was attacking command sites, warehouses and artillery positions belonging to groups it called terrorists. Turkey demanded that the bombardment stop, describing the clashes as an unwanted escalation in a region nominally covered by a Turkish- and Russian-brokered truce dating to 2020.
The timing also exposed pressure on Assad’s network of allies. Iran pledged continued support for Syria’s government and military, while Russian officials backed Damascus’s effort to restore control. Iran-aligned militias and Hezbollah had previously provided crucial ground support around Aleppo, particularly before government forces retook rebel-held districts in 2016. The November advance showed that, despite those alliances and Russian air power, government defenses in the north were vulnerable to a coordinated opposition attack.
