Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faces the biggest challenge to his authority in years after rebels entered Aleppo, with video shared on social media showing celebrations at their actions in the country’s second city.
The British-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said that more than 300 people had been killed since the start of the offensive launched by militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions on Wednesday in which dozens of villages have been seized.
The SOHR, which Newsweek has contacted for comment, said Saturday that the groups challenging Assad’s government controlled the “majority” of Aleppo, the first time rebels had reached the city since being forced out by Syria’s army, backed by Russia and Iran, after a brutal siege in 2016.
…