BEIRUT (AP) — Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have deployed in Syria to back the government's counteroffensive against a surprise advance by insurgents who seized the largest city of Aleppo last week, a militia official and a war monitor said Monday.
Insurgents led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and moved into the countryside around Idlib and neighboring Hama province. The push is among the rebels’ strongest in years and raised the prospect of another violent front reopening in the Middle East, at a time when U.S.-backed Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both Iranian-allied groups.
Click to Gallery
The President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and opposition, Hadi Al-Bahra, speaks to the media during a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian residents gather near destroyed buildings, after Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian White Helmet civil defence workers stand in a burning building after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian White Helmet civil defence worker and civilians carry a victim after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian White Helmet civil defence worker running in a destroyed neighborhood after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian White Helmets civil defence workers carry a victim after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
Syrian opposition fighters drive by an abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle on a highway in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian opposition fighters ride on a motorcycle by an abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle on a road in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
An abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle sits on a highway in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian opposition fighters seize abandoned Syrian army ammunition in in the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Residents inspect the site of an air strike in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Syrian opposition fighters drive a seized seized Syrian army armoured vehicle near the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
This photo released on the official Telegram page of the Syrian Presidency shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, and Syrian President Bashar Assad meeting in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (Syrian Presidency Telegram page via AP)
A nurse attends to an injured woman in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
A young man waits for treatment for his injuries at a hospital in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
It also risks drawing Russia and Turkey — each with its own interests to protect in Syria — into direct confrontation.
Government troops built a fortified defensive line in northern Hama in an attempt to stall the insurgents’ momentum while jets on Sunday pounded rebel-held lines. On Monday, Syria’s military said that their airstrikes alongside Russia's killed 400 insurgents over the past 24 hours. It said that government forces were mobilizing to encircle the rebels in the Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib countrysides.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a phone call with Assad Monday said Tehran was willing to provide all the support needed to push back the insurgency. He echoed comments from Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi, who visited Assad Sunday before traveling to Ankara, Turkey, one of the rebels' main backers.
Neither official further elaborated but Iran has been of Assad’s principal political and military supporters and has deployed military advisers and forces after 2011 protests against Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.
Tehran-backed Iraqi militias already in Syria mobilized and additional forces crossed the border to support Assad's government and army, said the Iraqi militia official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
According to Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, some 200 Iraqi militiamen on pickups crossed into Syria overnight through the strategic Bou Kamal crossing. They were expected to deploy in Aleppo to support the Syrian army’s pushback against the insurgents, the monitor said.
The rebel offensive in Syria has caused concern among neighboring countries that the conflict could spill over. In Iraq, Interior Ministry spokesperson Brig. Gen. Miqdad Miri said that security forces have deployed in greater numbers to protect their large border with Syria.
The advance by the insurgents is a huge embarrassment for Assad, and it comes at a time when his allies — Iran and groups it backs and Russia — are preoccupied with their own conflicts.
Russia, whose intervention in Syria's civil war on behalf of Assad was crucial in turning the conflict in his favor, has said it will continue to support him.
“We, of course, continue to support Bashar Assad, we continue our contacts at the appropriate level and analyze the situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday. “A position will be formed regarding what is needed to stabilize the situation.”
Syrian and Russian airstrikes on rebel positions continued mostly in Hama and Idlib provinces. At least 10 civilians were killed in Idlib city and province, according to the Syrian Civil Defense in opposition-held areas.
Syrian Kurds were fleeing the fighting in large numbers after Turkish-backed rebels seized Tel Rifaat from rival U.S.-backed Kurdish authorities. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces largely withdrew and called for a humanitarian corridor to allow people to leave safely in convoys toward Aleppo and later to Kurdish-led northeast regions.
Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
The President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and opposition, Hadi Al-Bahra, speaks to the media during a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian residents gather near destroyed buildings, after Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian White Helmet civil defence workers stand in a burning building after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian White Helmet civil defence worker and civilians carry a victim after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian White Helmet civil defence worker running in a destroyed neighborhood after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian White Helmets civil defence workers carry a victim after the Syrian government forces hit Idlib city, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Syrian Civil Defence White Helmets via AP)
Syrian opposition fighters drive by an abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle on a highway in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian opposition fighters ride on a motorcycle by an abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle on a road in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
An abandoned Syrian army armoured vehicle sits on a highway in the outskirts of in Khan Sheikhoun, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian opposition fighters seize abandoned Syrian army ammunition in in the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Residents inspect the site of an air strike in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Syrian opposition fighters drive a seized seized Syrian army armoured vehicle near the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Syrian opposition insurgency launched a campaign on Wednesday with a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib.(AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
This photo released on the official Telegram page of the Syrian Presidency shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, and Syrian President Bashar Assad meeting in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (Syrian Presidency Telegram page via AP)
A nurse attends to an injured woman in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
A young man waits for treatment for his injuries at a hospital in Idlib, Syria, Sunday Dec. 1, 2024. Government airstrikes in Idlib killed at least three civilians, including two children, and wounded 11 others, said the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
