Monday 02/December/2024 – 03:25 AM
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Sunday with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss the rapidly evolving situation in Syria.
Blinken and the Turkish Foreign Minister discussed the need to de-escalate and protect civilian lives and infrastructure in Aleppo and elsewhere.
They also discussed the ongoing humanitarian efforts in Gaza and the need to end the war and secure the release of all hostages.
What is happening in Syria?
Armed factions, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra Front), invaded villages and towns in Aleppo Governorate, which is controlled by the Syrian government, on Wednesday.
In late 2016, Syrian army forces, with support from Russia, Iran, and armed loyalist factions in the region, regained the entire city of Aleppo, and the armed factions’ fighters agreed to withdraw after months of bombing and siege in a battle that turned the tide of matters.
Mustafa Abdel Jaber, one of the leaders of the armed factions, said that the rapid progress was due to the lack of a sufficient number of Iranian-backed militants in the governorate.
The Syrian army said on Sunday that it had regained control of a number of towns that had been overrun by armed organizations in the past few days.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed on Sunday that “terrorism only understands the language of force,” adding, “Terrorists do not represent a people or institutions. They only represent the agencies that operate and support them.”
