Iraqi Militia Cross To Syria Help Fight Rebels Who Rebut Aleppo

JAKARTA - Hundreds of fighters from Iran-backed Iraqi militias crossed into Syria last night to help the government fight the rebels who seized Aleppo last week.

Citing Iraqi security sources, 300 fighters mainly from the Badr and Nujabaa groups crossed on Sunday night using land roads to avoid official border crossings.

"This is a new reinforcements sent to help our colleagues on the front lines in the north," a senior Syrian military source said.

The constants of regional militia groups allied with Iran have long been an integral part of the success of pro-government forces in defeating the rebels rising against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday the Syrian military was able to confront the rebels.

"The resistance group will help and Iran will provide whatever support it needs," he said.

Syrian and Russian government warplanes stepped up Monday's attack on rebel-controlled areas in the northwest, residents and rescue workers said, including an attack on refugee camps that killed seven people.

Last week's rebel rapid attack was not noticed by many people in the region, which was the biggest blow to Assad over the years and restarted the conflict.

Although Russia has focused on war in Ukraine since 2022, Russia has maintained its airbase in northern Syria. Iran-backed main group, Hezbollah Lebanon, has focused on its own war with Israel since the Gaza conflict began last year.

The Syrian conflict erupted in an uprising against the Assad government in 2011.

Rebels took control of large parts of Aleppo from 2012 to 2016, when government forces retook the region with the help of Russia and Iran-backed militias at a major turning point in the war.

Any prolonged escalation in Syria risks increasingly disrupting the stability of the already turbulent territory due to the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, with millions of Syrians forced to flee and regional and global powers supporting rival forces in the country.

The rebels include mainstream groups supported by Turkey, as well as Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who were previously affiliated with al-Qaeda. Turkey also has a military presence in Syrian territory along its border.

Kurdish-led forces Ankara calls terrorists, but combat ISIS militants with US assistance, control areas in the northeast.

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran met on Monday and discussed fighting in Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the progress of the rebels could not be explained by foreign intervention and urged Syrian opposition to compromise.