Iran reaffirms its support for President Bashar al Assad // Heavy fighting in rural areas
▲ Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi (left), yesterday in his meeting with the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad, in Damascus.Photo AFP/Iranian Foreign Ministry
Xinhua, Reuters, Europa Press, Afp, Sputnik and The Independent
La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, December 2, 2024, p. 25
Damascus. Syrian government forces launched a counteroffensive in northern rural areas in the central province of Hama, recapturing key areas from fighters of the pro-Turkish group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), as Russia indicated its aircraft were helping the Syrian army to push back to the rebels in the provinces of Idlib, in the northwest, and Hama and Aleppo, in the north, state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported yesterday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, visiting Damascus, stated that Iran supports the army and the government of Syria, to which Syrian President Bashar al Assad responded that it is important the support of allies and friends to confront attacks promoted from abroadand promised to put an end to it terrorism in the country.
The Foreign Minister of our country considered the recent activation of terrorist groups part of a conspiracy of enemies of the stability and security of the region that demonstrates the coincidence of the objectives of the terrorists with those of the United States and the Israeli regime to continue inciting to war and insecurity in the region, and compensate for the failures of Tel Aviv forces in the fight against the resistance frontThe Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Syrian army units reinforced their defensive lines with additional firepower, personnel and equipment, and successfully repelled attacks by organizations terroristsin addition to preventing any breach, reported the Syrian Ministry of Defense.
Our armed forces managed to secure several areas after expelling the terrorists, particularly Qalaat Madiq and Maardas, killing dozens of them while the rest fled.he added.
Syrian state television reported that some militants from HTS and affiliated groups were killed in the past three days.
The OSDH, based in the United Kingdom, confirmed that government forces sent significant reinforcements in recent hours.
Since early yesterday, warplanes have launched attacks on areas around Mork, Khan Sheikhoun, Kafr Nabl, Hazarin and Tal Kokba, in Idlib province and northern areas of Hama recently captured by HTS. There was no information on victims.
According to the OSDH, the intense shelling stopped the advance of the rebels in the rural areas of Hama.
HTS and allied opposition factions advanced on Hama on Saturday, taking control of numerous cities and towns in the northern part of the province.
The Syrian government lost full control of Aleppo, the country’s second most important city, for the first time since the start of the civil war in 2011, after a lightning offensive that dealt a severe blow to President Bashar al-Assad, leaving 412 dead. , mostly combatants from both sides.
In the complex kaleidoscope of the Syrian civil war, with a strong presence of foreign forces, another front intensified yesterday 40 kilometers north of Aleppo, where HTS fighters took the city of Tal Rifat and surrounding towns from Kurdish forces, according to the OSDH.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the United States, announced the beginning of a general mobilization against the offensive initiated by HTS and other armed formations backed by Turkey, which is fighting the Kurdish independence movement.
The United States government assured, through the spokesperson of the National Security Council, Sean Savett, that Al Assad lost control of Aleppo due to his dependence on Russia and Iranalong with his refusal to move forward with a peace process outlined in 2015 by the United Nations. They created the conditions that are now developingSavett said in a statement.
The current fighting between rebel forces and the army in Syria has serious implications for regional and international peacewarned the special envoy of the United Nations for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen.
The Arab League demanded respect for the integrity and sovereignty of Syria, while Venezuela condemned the hostilities against Damascus and demanded the cessation of Western and Israeli support.
