Syria. Pro-Kurdish jihadist rebels take control of Aleppo. Thousands of civilians are fleeing the city, from which the Syrian army has also withdrawn. Jihadist forces from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and allied factions against Bashar al-Assad’s regime are advancing into the central Syrian province of Hama after conquering key territories in the northwestern Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, from which they were ousted in 2016. The surprise attack is prompted by the current situation: Hezbollah is engaged in anti-Israeli operations in Lebanon and has been severely weakened by the Israelis, several key points and weapons supply points in Syria have been hit by the Syrians in recent months, and the Iranians and Russians have reduced their supplies of weapons and personnel due to their respective internal situations (Israeli attacks and the war in Ukraine).
