The insurgents, led by Salafi jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, took over most of Aleppo on Saturday and claimed to have entered the city of Hama.
The Syrian military rushed in reinforcements and struck Idlib city on Sunday in an attempt to stop insurgents from advancing further after they seized Aleppo and surrounding strategic locations in an adjacent province in a surprise offensive.
Syrian opposition fighters get on a motorcycle as others stand on top of a captured armoured vehicle in the town of Maarat al-Numan, south-west of Aleppo Turkish security officials said a limited offensive by the rebels was planned to stop government attacks and allow civilians to return, but the offensive expanded as Syrian government forces began to retreat from their positions.
Elsewhere, he said the insurgents advanced in the Idlib countryside, putting all of the province under their control. According to Syrian state news agency Sana and a war monitor, the army pushed back insurgents in the northern countryside of Hama province overnight. Government air strikes in Idlib on Sunday killed at least three civilians, including two children, and injured 11 other people, said the Syrian Civil Defence, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas.
In his first public comments since the start of the offensive, released by the state news agency on Saturday evening, Mr Assad said Syria will continue to “defend its stability and territorial integrity against terrorists and their supporters”.The 2016 battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters after 2011 protests against Mr Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.
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