Syrian insurgents breached Syria’s second largest city Aleppo after blowing up two car bombs on Friday, and were clashing with government forces on the city’s western edge, according to a Syria war monitor and fighters. It was the first time the city has been attacked by opposition forces since 2016, when they were ousted from Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi labeled them as part of “a US-Zionist plan” orchestrated in the aftermath of supposed Israeli setbacks in Lebanon and Gaza, according to Iran’s state media. During a phone conversation with his Syrian counterpart, Araghchi reaffirmed Iran’s unwavering support for the Syrian government, the report said. Thousands of insurgents have been advancing toward Aleppo city since a shock offensive they launched on Wednesday. They have seized several towns and villages along the way. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said the insurgents blew up two car bombs at the city’s western edge on Friday. An insurgent commander issued a recorded message posted on social media calling on the city’s residents to cooperate with the advancing forces. Turkey state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the opposition insurgents entered Aleppo city center Friday, but offered no further details. Syria’s state media reported earlier Friday that projectiles from insurgents landed in the student accommodations at Aleppo’s university in the city center, killing four people, including two students. Public transportation to the city had also been diverted from the main highway linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus to avoid clashes, state-controlled media reported. Residents in Aleppo reported hearing sounds of missiles on the city’s outskirts. 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 and the Idlib countryside. The war monitor Observatory said dozens of fighters from both sides have been killed in the battles 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. The offensive 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. “Hezbollah was the main force in the government’s control of the city,” said Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Observatory, the war monitor. The insurgents reported earlier Friday that fighters had wrestled controlled of the Scientific Research Center neighborhood, about 4 […]