Guest Post: The Insurgent Offensive and Aleppo City

As of the time of writing, the insurgent offensive in northwest Syria has managed to enter western parts of Aleppo city. On the government side, some who have fled the city already expect the entire city to fall, although one should advise against retroactively projecting intention onto battlefield successes. It may be that the insurgents themselves are surprised by how much they have managed to take so quickly.

In the interest of conveying local perspectives as to what is happening, I present a take from a person who led an Iranian-backed formation (al-Ghalibun) and is based in Latakia. I do not necessarily endorse the perspective presented here, but I find it interesting in light of his previous insights into the dubious concepts of ‘victory’ on the side of the ‘axis of resistance.’ It is also worth preserving these local perspectives for historical purposes. It should also be noted that as of the time of writing, the insurgents have seized the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province- a target referenced in the post.