Russian and Syrian warplanes targeted rebels on the outskirts of Aleppo, according to Syrian military sources, after fighters from the rebel group launched a surprise attack and entered the heart of the city on Friday.
The attack by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham poses the biggest challenge in years to President Bashar Al Assad, reigniting tensions in the Syrian civil war that have been largely frozen since 2020.
The Syrian Civil Defense, a rescue service operating in opposition-controlled parts of Syria, announced on Platform X that Syrian and Russian jets bombed residential areas, a gas station and a school in rebel-held Idlib, killing four civilians and wounding six others, the Guardian reports.
Russia, which deployed its air force to Syria in 2015 to support Assad in the war, has promised Damascus additional military aid to quell the rebels. According to sources, this aid will start arriving in the next 72 hours.
Rebel forces launched a surprise offensive earlier this week, rapidly advancing through government-held towns and reaching Aleppo nearly a decade after government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, drove the rebels out of the city.
On Saturday, the Syrian authorities closed the airport in Aleppo, as well as all roads leading to the city. The Syrian army has been ordered to carry out a "safe withdrawal" from major rebel-held areas of the city, three military sources confirmed.
On Friday, Syrian state television denied that rebels had entered the city and said Russia was providing air support to the Syrian army. The Syrian army also said it was fighting back the attack and had inflicted heavy losses on rebels in rural parts of Aleppo and Idlib.
Speaking on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow considered the rebel attack a violation of Syria's sovereignty.
"We are advocating that the Syrian authorities establish order in the area as soon as possible and restore the constitutional order," said Peskov.
The rebels launched an offensive on Wednesday under the auspices of an operational command that includes Turkish-backed groups. On Friday, this command announced that its forces were taking control of various districts of Aleppo.
In 2016, Assad re-established full control of the city of Aleppo, aided by Russian air power and Iranian-backed Shiite militias, as rebels retreated after months of bombardment and siege.
Rebels have maintained strongholds near Aleppo, in Idlib province and in areas north of the city, near the Turkish border.
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