Key players in Syria's long-running civil war, reignited by a shock rebel offensive

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s long civil war has reclaimed global attention after insurgents seized most of its largest city and dozens of nearby towns and villages.

The stunning advance on Aleppo by rebel forces came as several key players in the conflict have been distracted or weakened, triggering the heaviest clashes since a 2020 ceasefire brought relative calm to the country’s north.

Russian and Syrian forces have carried out dozens of airstrikes to try to limit the insurgents' advances, inflicting heavy casualties.

Syria's civil war started in 2011 after an uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule. Five foreign powers have a military presence in the country including the U.S., Russia and Iran. Forces opposed to Assad, along with U.S.-backed fighters, control more than a third of the country. Israel holds the Golan Heights, which it seized in its 1967 war with its Arab neighbors.

Here’s a look at the key players:

Syrian government troops have long controlled a large part of the country, thanks to allied forces dispatched by Russia and Iran.

Assad's forces control most of the major population centers, including the capital Damascus and cities in Syria's center, south and east.

The Syrian government's capture of Aleppo in late 2016 was a turning point in the conflict and their loss of the city in recent days is a major setback.

Iran's military advisers and proxy fighters have played a critical role in shoring up Assad's forces throughout the war. But Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, which is backed by Iran, has been weakened in its recent war with Israel and Iran has been distracted by the conflict. On Monday, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias deployed to Syria to back the government’s counteroffensive.

Russia's military has supported Assad from the Mediterranean coast, where it maintains its only naval base outside the former Soviet Union, and at the Hemeimeem air base in Latakia province, which is home to hundreds of Russian troops. But much of its attention and resources have been focused on its war in Ukraine.

Anti-government forces are led by the insurgent Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which long served as al-Qaida's branch in Syria and is considered a terrorist group by the U.N. as well as countries including the U.S.

HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group's image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance.

Other insurgent groups include Noureddine el-Zinki, which was formerly backed by the U.S., before it joined the HTS-led alliance.

A Turkish-backed coalition of groups known as the Syrian National Army has attacked areas including the northern town of Tel Rifaat, controlled by the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Chinese fighters from the Turkistan Islamic Party and Chechen fighters from the former Soviet Union have taken part in the battles in the country's northwest, according to Syrian opposition activists. Turkey, which controls parts of northern Syria, will not say how many troops it has in the country.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed coalition of groups, controls large parts of eastern Syria.

The SDF has battled the Islamic State group, capturing the last sliver of land held by the extremists in eastern Syria. About 900 American troops are stationed in Syria’s east to guard against a resurgence by the extremist group.

SDF forces still control several neighborhoods of Aleppo encircled by insurgents. Opposition activists have said that insurgents are willing to let those fighters cross to northeast Syria but it was not immediately clear if the Kurdish-led forces will do so.

Turkey considers the principal Kurdish faction of the SDF to be linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which it and allies regard as a terrorist group.

FILE - A Turkish and Russian patrol is seen near the town of Darbasiyah, Syria, Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2013, file photo, Iraqi and Lebanese Shiite fighters from a group called the Hussein Brigade use a helmet to draw a sniper into view in the town of Hejeira, in the countryside outside Damascus, Syria. (AP Photo/Jaber al-Helo, File)

A Syrian flag lies on the ground as opposition fighters stand on the tarmac of the Aleppo international airport, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024.(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

A Syrian opposition fighter sits on an office chair posing for a picture at arrivals gate of the Aleppo international airport in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. .(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian opposition fighters stand on the wings of an old aircraft at the Al-Nayrab military airport after they took control of the facility in the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. .(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian opposition fighters stand on an aircraft at the Al-Nayrab military airport after they took control of the facility in the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. .(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

FILE - Turkish and American armored vehicles conduct the first joint patrol in the so-called "safe zone" on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey near Tal Abyad, Syria, Sept. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)

FILE - In this frame grab from video, Russian, Syrian and others gather next to an American military convoy stuck in the village of Khirbet Ammu, east of Qamishli city, Syria, Feb. 12, 2020. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - This file photo provided on Oct. 20, 2017 by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, shows Iran's army chief of staff Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, left, looking at a map with senior officers from the Iranian military as they visit a front line in the northern province of Aleppo, Syria. (Syrian Central Military Media, via AP, File)

FILE - This undated file photo released by a militant group in 2016, shows Abu Mohammed al-Golani of the militant Levant Liberation Committee and the leader of Syria's al-Qaida affiliate, second right, discussing battlefield details with field commanders over a map, in Aleppo, Syria. (Militant UGC via AP, File)

FILE - In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, speaks with Syrian President Bashar Assad in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, May 30, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers drive military vehicles during an exercise in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights near the border with Syria, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

FILE - From left: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Sept. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, Pool, File)

Syrian opposition fighters ride on a motorcycle past Syrian army planes at the Al-Nayrab military airport after they took control of the facility in the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. .(AP Photo/Omar Albam)

A total of 69 Ukrainian drones targeting the Russian capital were shot down in a massive attack early on Tuesday morning, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

The attack, the biggest targeting Moscow in months, came as a Ukrainian delegation was set to meet with America’s top diplomat in Saudi Arabia about ending the three-year war with Russia. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials on the attack.

At least 11 of the drones were shot down in the Ramensky and Domodedovo districts of the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital, Sobyanin said on the messaging app Telegram. He didn't specify where the other drones were shot down, noting only that they were “flying towards Moscow."

The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said that one person was killed and three more wounded as a result of the drone attack. The attack damaged seven apartments in a residential building in the Ramensky district, he said.

Sobyanin said the roof of a building in Moscow also sustained damage, which he described as “insignificant.” Footage of the building, published by Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti, showed a charred spot on the facade of a multi-story residential building near the roof, with bits of the building's lining stripped off.

Flights have been restricted in and out of four airports, including Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky to the south of Moscow and Sheremetyevo to the north, according to Russian civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia.

Train traffic through the Domodedovo railway station has also been briefly halted, local officials reported.

Authorities also reported shooting down or jamming drones in the Kaluga, Ryazan, Tula and Vladimir regions adjacent to the Moscow region, as well as the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine.

Rosaviatsia also restricted flights in and out of airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with the governor of Perm territory Dmitry Makhonin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 10, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade press service, Ukrainian servicemen train at the military training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, March 10, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade via AP)