Russian Jets Support Syrian Counteroffensive, Military Confirms

Russian military jets are providing air support for Syria’s counteroffensive, signaling increased collaboration in the ongoing conflict.

According to the spokesman for Moscow’s expeditionary force, Russian fighter jets based in Syria have conducted airstrikes targeting jihadist militants who were attacking Aleppo city in the north.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist organization and its allied militias launched an attack on government-controlled areas in northern Syria on Wednesday, violating the fragile truce that Russia and Türkiye brokered in 2020.

Colonel Oleg Ignasyuk, the deputy head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, reported in a briefing on Friday that the Russian Aerospace Forces are actively assisting the Syrian Arab Army by launching missile and bomb strikes against illegal armed groups. These operations target enemy equipment, personnel, command posts, warehouses, and artillery positions. He stated that at least 200 militants were eliminated in these actions over the past 24 hours. Additionally, he noted that joint efforts between Russian and Syrian forces resulted in another 400 militant casualties just one day earlier.

Earlier in the day, HTS informed Al Jazeera and Türkiye’s Anadolu news agency that its fighters had entered several neighborhoods of Aleppo. The group asserted control over 400 square kilometers of land across Aleppo and Idlib provinces, claiming they captured heavy weaponry and other equipment from the Syrian Army. Videos circulated on social media allegedly depict HTS gunmen advancing through Aleppo both on foot and in armored vehicles.

The government in Damascus announced that its forces have “inflicted heavy losses” on the attackers and have regained control of certain areas. Local media reported that Syrian Army reinforcements arrived in both Idlib and Aleppo on Friday.

Before adopting its current name in 2017, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was known as Jabhat al-Nusra and served as one of the primary factions opposing President Bashar Assad’s government during the Syrian Civil War. Originally, Jabhat al-Nusra was established as an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in Syria.

In 2015, Russia intervened in the conflict, assisting Assad in reclaiming significant portions of the country from al-Nusra, Islamic State (IS; formerly known as ISIS), and numerous US-backed armed groups that Washington referred to as “moderate rebels.”

In December 2016, Syrian forces ended the almost five-year siege of Aleppo and forced al-Nusra along with other groups to move westward into Idlib province. In 2018, Türkiye assumed control over Idlib, promising to distinguish between terrorists and “legitimate rebels,” but this promise went unfulfilled. A subsequent agreement in March 2020 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed to bring a permanent halt to the hostilities surrounding Idlib.