Syria insurgents push their advance toward 2nd largest city Aleppo

BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of Syrian insurgents pushed on with their advances on government-held areas in the country’s northwest, reaching the outskirts of Syria’s second largest city Aleppo and wrestling control of several strategic towns and villages along the way, activists and fighters said Friday.

Syria’s state media said projectiles from insurgents landed in the student accommodations at Aleppo's university, killing four people, including two students. Public transportation to the city has also been diverted from the main highway linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus to avoid clashes, state-controlled media reported.

Fighters also advanced on the town of Saraqab, in northwestern Idlib province, a strategic area that would secure supply lines to Aleppo.

This week's advances were one of the largest by opposition factions, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, and comes after weeks of low simmering violence. It is most intense fighting in northwestern Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.

Syria’s Armed Forces said the insurgents are violating a 2019 agreement that de-escalated fighting in the area, which has been the last remaining opposition stronghold for years.

State media reported airstrikes on insurgents’ positions in Aleppo countryside.

The insurgents reported that fighters have wrestled controlled of the Scientific Research Center neighborhood, on the western outskirts of Aleppo city. It is the closest the rebels have come to Aleppo city since they were ousted from its eastern side in 2016.

Russia and Iran had helped Syrian government forces reclaim control of all of Aleppo that year, after a gruelling military campaign and a siege that lasted for weeks.

The battle for Aleppo was a turning point in the war between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters since the 2011 protests against Bashar Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.

The war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of fighters from both sides have been killed in the battle that started Wednesday. The insurgents have seized control of more than 50 villages in their advance, which seem to have caught the government forces unprepared.

Insurgents posted videos online showing they were using drones in their advance, a new weapon they had not had previously in the earlier stages of their confrontation with government forces. It was not clear to what extent the drones were used on the battleground.

Aid groups said the fighting has displaced thousands of families, and forced some services to be suspended. The opposition fighters said their offensive will allow the return of thousands of displaced people who were forced to flee government bombardment in recent weeks.

The offensive also came as Iran-linked groups, who had backed Syrian government forces since 2015, have been preoccupied with their own battle at home.

Israel and Hezbollah, the lead group in the Iran-backed alliance, have been locked in a war that escalated since September. A cease-fire was announced Wednesday, the day the Syrian opposition factions announced their offensive. Israel has also escalated its attacks against Hezbollah and Iran-linked targets in Syria during the last 70 days.

Russia, along with Iran, backed Syrian government forces soon after the anti-government protests in 2011 turned into a war. Turkey has backed an array of opposition forces and established military presence in parts of northwestern Syria. Meanwhile, the United States has supported Syrian Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants largely in the east of the country.

A destroyed Syrian army tank sits in the village of Anjara, western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian opposition fighters ride in a truck as they enter the village of Anjara, western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024, part of their major offensive on government-controlled areas in the country's northwestern Syria. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

A Syrian opposition fighter displays badges allegedly belonging to Syrian army officers uniforms in Anjara, western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian opposition fighters stand next to a government sign after entering the village of Anjara, western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024, part of their major offensive on government-controlled areas in the country's northwestern Syria. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian opposition fighters stand in formation after entering the village of Anjara, western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024, part of their major offensive on government-controlled areas in the country's northwestern Syria. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian opposition fighters get off a truck as they enter the village of Anjara, western outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Thursday Nov. 28, 2024, part of their major offensive on government-controlled areas in the country's northwestern Syria. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

PARIS (AP) — After more than five years of frenetic reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed its new self to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019.

Images broadcast live of a site visit by French President Emmanuel Macron showed the inside of the iconic cathedral as worshippers might have experienced it back in medieval times, its wide, open spaces filled with bright light on a crisp and sunny winter’s day that lit up the vibrant colors of the stained-glass windows.

Gaping holes that the blaze tore into the vaulted ceilings, leaving charred piles of debris, are gone, now filled in with new stonework. Delicate golden angels look on from the centerpiece of one of the rebuilt ceilings.

The cathedral's limestone walls look brand new, cleaned not only of dust from the fire but also of grime that had accumulated for years. The cathedral attracted millions of worshippers and visitors annually before the blaze.

Powerful vacuum cleaners were used to first remove toxic dust released when the fire melted the cathedral's lead roofs. Fine layers of latex were then sprayed onto the surfaces and removed a few days later, taking dirt away with them.

Macron entered via the cathedral’s giant and intricately carved front doors and stared up at the ceilings in wonder. He was accompanied by his wife, Brigitte, the archbishop of Paris and others.

Their visit kicks off a series of events ushering in the reopening of the 12th-century Gothic masterpiece.

Macron will return on Dec. 7 to deliver an address and attend the consecration of the new altar during a solemn Mass the following day.

Macron's administration is hailing the reconstruction as a symbol of national unity and French can-do.

People stand inside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Friday Nov. 29 2024 before French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors before the iconic monument's reopening for worship on Dec. 8. (Sarah Meyssonnier, Pool via AP)

A man takes a picture of Notre Dame Cathedral as French President Emmanuel Macron visits the renovated cathedral, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

The facade of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in Paris, is seen Friday Nov. 29, 2024, ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors. (Stephane de Sakutin, Pool via AP)

People stand outside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Friday Nov. 29 2024 before French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors before the iconic monument's reopening for worship on Dec. 8. (Sarah Meyssonnier, Pool via AP)

Part of the facade of Notre-Dame Cathedral is seen in Paris, Friday Nov., 29 2024 ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors before the iconic monument's reopening for worship on Dec. 8. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

The facade of Notre-Dame Cathedral is seen in Paris, Friday Nov., 29 2024 ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's final visit to the construction site to see the restored interiors before the iconic monument's reopening for worship on Dec. 8. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP)

FILE - A hole is seen in the dome inside Notre Dame cathedral after the fire in Paris, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. (Christophe Petit Tesson, Pool via AP, File)