Monday Briefing: Rebels Advance in Syria
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Fighting rages in Syria as rebels advance
Rebel forces advanced in Syria amid fierce fighting, capturing the airport and the military academy of Aleppo and attacking the outskirts of the western city of Hama, according to rebel officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Government troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad rushed in reinforcements and launched airstrikes on Aleppo, the Observatory, a war monitor in Britain, said.
The rebels captured much of Aleppo a day earlier in a surprise offensive. They now control a broad patch across the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo, in the west and northwest of Syria, according to officials from the rebel-linked administration and the war monitor.
The Observatory said that government troops were battling to defend Hama and that reinforcements had arrived to man defensive lines around the city and nearby cities. Syrian government warplanes bombed territory now held by the rebels, including targets across the city of Aleppo, causing dozens of civilian casualties, the monitor said.
The rebel alliance is led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which was once linked with Al Qaeda but publicly broke with the terrorist group years ago. Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined in.
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