BEIRUT — Syrian armed groups launched a large-scale attack on areas controlled by government forces and seized territory in northwestern Syria, opposition groups said Thursday. The government and its allies responded with airstrikes and shelling to ward off the insurgent advances, activists said.
The violence has displaced thousands of families, and forced aid groups to suspend some of their services. Volunteers with the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, said at least 18 people, including three children and two women, were killed in two different villages in western Aleppo following airstrikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the airstrikes were from Russian warplanes.
Syria’s armed forces said Thursday the offensive was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which controls much of northwest Syria and is a violation of a de-escalation agreement. It said the attacks are ongoing and have targeted a number of villages and military bases.
Turkey, which backs Syrian opposition factions, and Russia and Iran, which have backed government forces, reached an agreement in late 2019 that effectively froze the line of the conflict and prevented government advances in Idlib province, which has been the last stronghold for a mix of radical groups and Turkey-backed Syrian forces.
