Syrian army withdraws troops from Aleppo to prepare counteroffensive

The Syrian military announced on Saturday a temporary withdrawal of its troops in the northwestern city of Aleppo to prepare for a counteroffensive, after rebel groups launched a surprise attack against the government’s forces for the first time in years.

“The large numbers of terrorists and the multiplicity of battlefronts prompted our armed forces to carry out a redeployment operation aimed at strengthening the defense lines in order to absorb the attack, preserve the lives of civilians and soldiers, and prepare for a counterattack,” the army said in a statement.

The statement marks the first public acknowledgment by the Syrian military that rebels led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had entered the government-held city of Aleppo in a startling advance that began on Wednesday. It also reported that dozens of men from the Syrian armed forces were killed and others injured during the battles with the insurgents over the past few days.

The surprise attack against the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government marks the most severe fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when Russia and Turkey brokered a deal aimed at reducing hostilities. The deal allowed Syrian government forces to reclaim territories previously under opposition control.

Following the rebel assault, the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), the temporary governing body in the areas of northern Syria no longer under the control of the Assad regime, announced on Saturday the launch of a new military operation aimed at “liberating the areas usurped by the Assad regime and the PKK/PYD terrorist militias.”

“The liberation achieved today is a strategic step towards achieving the ultimate goal, which is the liberation of all Syrian territory from the grip of the regime and the terrorist and separatist militias that seek to divide our country and plunder its resources,” the SIG said in a statement.