Syrian Opposition Leader: Ceasefire In Lebanon Opens Door Of Attack In Aleppo

JAKARTA - Syrian rebel fighters are known to have started preparations to seize Aleppo a year ago but the operation was delayed due to the war in Gaza.

The operation was finally launched last week when a ceasefire was in place in Lebanon, Syria's main opposition chief Hadi al-Bahra told Reuters.

According to him, the rebels were able to seize the city and parts of neighboring Idlib so quickly that Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed fighters were disrupted by their conflict with Israel.

The Turkish military, which is allied with several rebels and has bases on Syria's southern border, has heard of the armed group's plans but insists they will not play a direct role.

An attack in northwestern Syria was launched last Wednesday, the day that Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah armed group began a ceasefire that ended the fighting for more than a year.

"A year ago they really started training and mobilization and took it more seriously," said Bahra, president of the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary Forces and Opposition, an internationally recognized Syrian opposition group.

"But the war in Gaza, then the war in Lebanon postponed it. They feel bad if they fight in Lebanon at the same time they are at war in Syria," he said at his Istanbul office.

"So when there was a ceasefire in Lebanon, they found that opportunity to start," added Hadi al-Bahra.

The rebel operation is the boldest progress and biggest challenge for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the years in a civil war where most of the front lines have been frozen since 2020.

The Syrian forces and their Russian allies launched a retaliatory attack, which Bahra said "disrupted stability" of Aleppo and Idlib and posed the biggest risk to civilians.