KAREEM CHEHAYEB
BEIRUT — The Syrian military rushed reinforcements to the northwest and launched airstrikes Sunday in an attempt to push back insurgents who seized the country’s largest city of Aleppo, as Iran pledged to help the government counter the surprise offensive.
Iran has been a key political and military ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's long-running civil war, but it was unclear how Tehran would support Damascus in this latest flareup that began Wednesday. Insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib, before moving toward neighboring Hama province.
On Sunday, government troops created a “strong defensive line” in northern Hama, according to Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, as they attempted to stall the insurgents' momentum. Meanwhile, jets pounded the cities of Idlib and Aleppo, killing at least 15 people, according to a group that operates in opposition-held areas.
The surge in fighting has raised the prospect of another violent, destabilizing front reopening in the Middle East at a time when Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, conflicts that have repeatedly threatened to ignite an even wider regional war. It also risks drawing Russia and Turkey — each with its own interests to protect in Syria — into direct heavy fighting against each other.
The insurgents announced their offensive Wednesday, just as a ceasefire between the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group and Israel began, raising some hope that tensions in the region might be calming.
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