Syria, Russia and Iran have already rushed to confront the Turkish and US (and probably Israeli) funded HTS/Al Qaeda warlord’s breakout from the Idlib statelet. The Rojava multi-ethnic SDF forces have also broken out and are confronting the Jihadis in Aleppo city and Tel Rifaat
Rebel factions successfully seized control of most of the city of Aleppo, Syria, on November 30, 2024, after intense clashes and fierce battles with Assad regime forces. (Photo by Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto) (Photo by Rami Alsayed / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP)
The interplay of external forces mirrors broader trends of rivalry among major powers, increasing the likelihood of a large-scale conflict
In recent days, northern Syria has witnessed intense fighting, marking the most violent clashes since March 2020, when a ceasefire was brokered with the involvement of Russia and Turkey.
On the morning of November 27, anti-government groups launched an offensive in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces. According to reports, the operation involves Islamist factions, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group banned in Russia, as well as armed opposition forces such as the US and Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army.
Infiltrators celebrate in Aleppo City as Clashes continue between government forces and the ex Al Qaeda armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, Syria, November 29, 2024
By the morning of November 28, opposition forces declared the capture of about a dozen settlements, including strategically significant areas such as Urm al-Sughra, Anjara, and Al-Houta, located west of Aleppo..
Additionally, they claimed to have seized the 46th Brigade Base, the largest military base of the Syrian army. Rebel sources reported capturing five tanks, an infantry fighting vehicle, and a stockpile of missiles.
On the same day, insurgents conducted a precision strike on a helicopter at the An-Nayrab airbase. Reports from Anadolu and CNN indicated that key positions, including Kafr Basma, Urum al-Kubra, and several strategic highlands, fell under rebel control.
On November 28, the group Al-Fateh al-Mubin announced the capture of Khan al-Assal, located just 7 kilometers from Aleppo, along with ten tanks.
The rebels claimed that panic and declining morale were spreading among President Bashar Assad’s forces.
Meanwhile, the offensive also advanced south and east of Idlib, a rebel stronghold since 2015. The rebels reported taking Dadikh and Kafr Batikh, and dozens of villages near the vital M5 highway.
Over the course of three days, militants reportedly captured at least 70 settlements, spanning approximately 400 square kilometers across both provinces.
By the evening of November 29, participants in the operation declared the capture of Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city.
With the spectacular betrayal and defeat of the two main militias in the Turkish paid NFL coalition the Al Qaeda (HTS) administration has taken control of the province of Idlib, which right now is an Al Qaeda sharia regime state, sponsored by Turkey.
While the western media were entertained with the Erdogan/Trump daily pantomime no one seemed to notice that the Tutkish paid mercenaries sent to the Manbij border to ”bury, plunder, rape and occupy”the Rojava Revolution were mainly recently recruited NFL jihadis from Idlib, and not Erdogan’s FSA terrorists still busy destroying Afrin.
The good news is that in future Erdogan’s other mercenaries, the FSA, will be wary about him sending them to invade and plunder Rojava…
Their weapons were seized and no other faction or their Turkish sponsors helping or supporting them. According to the Lebanese al-Mayadeen TV, more than 200 militants and 20 civilians were killed during the battle between HTS and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. Nour al-Din al-Zenki suffered total defeat at the hands of HTS and lost all of its areas in western Aleppo.
Next in line were the biggest faction of the Turkish NFL jihadis, Ahrar al-Sham , who were defeated by Al Qaeda in just 3 days.
Mekut@Mekut_Mallet Leader of Syrian branch of al-Qa’ida (rebranded HTS), known as abu-Muhammad al-Jolani, supports Turkey in attacking Syrian Kurds. The Islamofascist axis AKP//HTS/ISIS has been planning to subjugate or exterminate Kurds and others who stand in their way. #Turkey#alQaeda#HTS
Then Erdogan forced the demoralised NFL facrions to sign the agreement giving administrative control to Al Qaeda/HTS, as many fled into the already terrorist infested Turkish occupied Afrin
So to cut a long story short Al Qaeda has triumphed and is expanding out of Idlib into Hama, Aleppo and Lattakia, leaving Assad and the Russians a bit confused.
Opposition websites agree that Turkey has cynically and murderously betrayed and destroyed its own paid allies, Al Zenki and Ahrar al-Sham, opening the door to a general attack by Syria/SAA and Russia on Al Qaeda/HTS (because all sides have labelled HTS as terrorists while the Turkish backed groups had some defense).
Was Erdogan wrong footed by Trump’s sudden withdrawal declarations into sending his mercenaries into a trap? ??
Maybe yes this was what happened, it was important perhaps for Turkey to make the preparations to attack Rojava real and concrete . One report suggested they hoped to get the vital ‘airspace bombing permission’ for a new invasion from the US and Russians by appearing that the invasion was going ahead anyway.
But things are never as they seem .. Some very suspicious circumstances..
Turkey apparently sent its untried NFL mercenaries from Idlib to attack Rojava via Manbij instead of its established FSA terrorist army.
Opposition websites agree that Turkey has cynically and murderously betrayed and destroyed its own paid allies, Al Zenki and Ahrar al-Sham.
The ‘huge buildup of Turkish tanks and NATO war material, linked to the threat to ”bury” the Kurds, seems to be more on the Idlib/Hatay border, far from Kobani/Rojava.
Turkey has a thriving business with Idlib in the laughably named ‘demilitarized Zone’ (DMZ) via the Hatay/Turkey border. Al Qaeda/HTS is now a far-right religious administration with its own social services.
Turkey has expanded its ten bases in the Idlib ‘DMZ’ but made no effort to enforce the terms of the agreement.
Erdogan is supplying arms to his mercenaries (now seized by Al Qaeda HTS) but also all kinds of supplies, international aid, and trade, all taxed by the Al Qaeda/HTS regime which controls road access here and elsewhere.
NFL mercenaries have been complaining recently in online comments that their pay has been cut (partly caused by the collapse of the Turkish Lira in which they are paid). One comment claimed ”Turkey is paying double to Al Qaeda/HTS militants” causing mass defection of desperately poor rebels.
So what will happen next?
Perhaps Turkey will now defend Idlib as a client state, hoping it will be one more jewel in the racist, misogynist, jihadist ‘New Ottoman Empire’.
Reports suggest the Al Qaeda takeover has caused fear in Idlib of an all out attack by the massive SAA Syrian army which is entrenched around the east and south of the area.
The chorus of demands, no doubt orchestrated by Turkey, is resuming, asking that the Turkish army intervene to stop the ‘evil Assadis’ committing ‘a shocking massacre of civilians’ with their ‘poison gas attacks’.
An agreed invasion or ‘increase on troops to enforce the DMZ agreement’ could make Idlib forever a Turkish Empire protectorate, and set the stage for the ”cleansing” of Rojava where Turkey promises to ”bury the Kurds in their ditches”.
Erdogan already has 10 bases in Idlib. He, or his script writing team, are experts in threats and blackmail, (put the words ‘Erdogan Threatens’ in google and you find many pages of threats!) with ”leverage” over Russia due to key pipelines, nuclear and arms sales, etc. Leverage over Syria as he already occupies and is ‘turkifying’ Afrin, Jarablus, Azaz and Al Bab. Turkey also has blackmail ammunition over the EU with the oft repeated threat to let loose a new flood of refugees. And over the US with the threat of leaving NATO, cancelling arms agreements, etc.
Hopefully despite all the threats and Machiavellian maneuvering, Erdogan’s plans will come unstuck again. But the increasing evidence that Turkey sacrificed its own supposedly ‘moderate’ mercenary allies to be wiped out by Al Qaeda show again what level of War Criminals are at work.
12/01/2019.. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham continues to expand its influence within the Idlib de-escalation zone. Now, the target is northern Lattakia.
Jailed Kurdish opposition politician Leyla Güven has reached a critical condition and has been unable to see her lawyer for four days due to health problems caused by her long-running hunger strike, Turkish news site Diken reported.
Güven, who is both the co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress, an umbrella organisation for Kurdish groups, and a deputy for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), is imprisoned pending trial in Diyarbakır, south-east Turkey after being arrested in January 2018 for criticising Turkey’s military operation against Kurdish militias in northwest Syria.
The Kurdish deputy is one of nine from the HDP who are currently held behind bars in Turkey, including the party’s former co-chair, Selahattin Demirtaş. The party is particularly vulnerable to prosecution due to perceived links tying it to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an outlawed group that has fought Turkish security forces for Kurdish self-rule since the 1980s.
Day 68 of Leyla Güven’s Hunger Strike in Turkish prison. Her health has rapidly deteriorated & is now at life threatening stage. Silence is no longer viable, in fact, it is complicity at this stage. #LeylaGuven< Morning Star@M_Star
Together we will make 27 and 28 January two days of global resistance against Turkish fascism. Together we will intervene in the numbing routine of war and oppression, expressing our solidarity with various forms of action. Together we will show that this revolution is not alone!
Let us stand shoulder to shoulder against fascism!
Long live the international solidarity!
The revolution in Rojava will be victorious! Fascism will be crushed!
*************
The Free 