Here is what the situation on the ground looks like as of December 3, 2024.
Syrian planes, joined by Russian warplanes, have intensified airstrikes in Idlib and Aleppo to drive the opposition from the north-west of the country.
On November 27, groups opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, launched a dramatic offensive that captured large parts of Aleppo, the country’s second largest city.
The rapid gains of the opposition forces have been significant since 2016 and have brought various Syrian factions back into the limelight.
How many people have been killed?
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), an independent organization that has documented human rights violations in Syria since 2011, at least 104 civilians, including at least 27 children and nine women, were killed in Syria between November 27 and December 1. .
The latest violence marked the first major offensive by al-Assad forces in the region since the March 2020 ceasefire in Idlib, which was led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Over the past four years, Syrian government forces and Russians have repeatedly bombed areas controlled by the regime in the northwest, killing hundreds.
Who controls what’s on the floor?
The map below shows the territorial control of various groups as of December 3.
Four major factions compete for control on the ground in Syria. Of course:
- Syrian government forces: The army, the main military force of the government, fights alongside the National Defense Forces, a pro-government group.
- Syrian Democratic Army: The Kurdish-dominated group, backed by the United States, controls parts of eastern Syria.
- HTS and other opposition groups have joined: HTS is a major fighting force and has the strongest presence in opposition-held Idlib.
- Syrian rebel forces aligned with Turkey and Turkey: The Syrian National Army is a Turkish-backed rebel force in northern Syria.
Who are the Syrian opposition?
As the struggle against al-Assad’s government continues in Syria, fighters are building and rebuilding alliances based on ground realities.
In this latter work, many warring factions are represented, united into coalitions of various sizes.
The two largest groups are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the National Front for Liberation, each of which includes a number of smaller groups.
All of these groups have agreed to fight under the Military Operations Command, which is a new iteration of the Fateh al-Mubin operation center that has operated in the area for years.
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