BEIRUT (AP) Iraqi militias supported by Iran have moved into Syria to support the government’s counteroffensive against an unexpected insurgent breakthrough that took control of Aleppo, the country’s largest city, according to a militia official and a war monitor on Monday.
Following a two-pronged onslaught on Aleppo last week, insurgents under the leadership of the Islamic organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham advanced into the surrounding countryside of Idlib and the neighboring province of Hama. While jets bombarded rebel-held positions on Sunday, government troops in northern Hama constructed a hardened defensive line in an effort to slow the militants’ momentum.
In a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared Tehran’s unwavering support for his regime. Later, he traveled to Ankara, Turkey, one of the insurgents’ principal supporters, for negotiations.
I made it clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran fully supports President Assad, the Syrian government, army, and people. “Araghchi said.” Although he did not go into further detail, Iran has been one of Assad’s main political and military backers and has sent military advisers and troops since anti-Assad protests in 2011 descended into full-scale conflict.
The Iraqi militia official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, claimed that Tehran-backed Iraqi militias already in Syria mobilized and that more fighters crossed the border to bolster Assad’s army and government.
Overnight, over 200 Iraqi gunmen on pickups entered Syria at the vital Bou Kamal crossing, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor based in Britain. According to the monitor, they were anticipated to go to Aleppo to bolster the Syrian army’s resistance to the rebels.
Airstrikes by Russia and Syria against opposition positions persisted, mostly in the provinces of Idlib and Hama. In regions controlled by the opposition, the Syrian Civil Defense said that at least ten civilians were murdered in Idlib city and province.
Large numbers of Syrian Kurds were escaping the battle after competing Kurdish authorities backed by the United States lost Tel Rifaat to insurgents backed by Turkey. In addition to calling for a humanitarian corridor to enable safe evacuation of people in convoys toward Aleppo and then to Kurdish-led northeast regions, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces withdrew most of their forces.
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This article was written by Nasser Karimi of the Associated Press in Tehran.
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