Türkiye-backed Syrian rebel groups have launched a major offensive near Aleppo.

Syrian rebel groups led by the Levant Liberation Organization and backed by Turkey have launched their first major offensive in nearly five years, targeting nearly 50 towns in northern Syria in three days, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH) reported on Friday. Are. , The fighting is concentrated in the Aleppo gates and in Idlib province, the last opposition bastion in the country.

Since the beginning of the offensive on Wednesday, at least 255 people have already been killed: in addition to 26 civilians, 144 rebel fighters and 87 soldiers of the Syrian army and its allies. Of the victims, 19 died in bombing by Russian aviation, six students were killed by rebel rockets launched against Aleppo University City and another civilian died by artillery fire.

The offensive comes at a critical time, as Turkey seeks to re-establish diplomatic ties with the Bashar al-Assad regime, which have been severed since the start of the civil war 13 years ago. However, Damascus is demanding that Ankara withdraw its troops from northern Syria and end its support for opposition groups as conditions for talks to proceed.

The conflict has led to large-scale displacement in the affected areas. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 14,000 people, almost half of whom are children, have fled their homes in recent days, while 30 humanitarian organizations and 24 medical centers have been evacuated due to the clashes. Has suspended its operations. In Aleppo’s western neighborhoods, residents are leaving their homes in fear of fighting, as the Syrian army sends reinforcements to stop the rebel advance.

The Levant Liberation Agency has said the operation is “an attempt to counter the intensification of recent airstrikes by Syrian and Russian forces against civilians in Idlib, as well as a possible attack by the Syrian Army, which is targeting large numbers of civilians nearby.” “I am deploying troops.” Frontline,’ Reuters reports.

Although Turkey and Russia negotiated a ceasefire for the Idlib region in 2020, sporadic clashes and shelling never completely stopped. The new outbreak of violence threatens to further destabilize northern Syria, a region ravaged by more than a decade of civil war that has killed more than half a million people since it began in 2011. have been killed as the Assad regime violently represses pro-democracy protests.