🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 84 (from laksa194)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa084.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html","crawl_time":1771238264,"first_indexed_time":1732979033,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,nytimes!www,\/article\/syria-civil-war.html s443","src_root_hash":"4566504020376537684","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Why Did Syria’s Civil War Reignite? - The New York Times","meta_descriptions":["Rebel groups have launched the largest offensive in years against government forces in the northwest."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Advertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\nRebel groups have launched the largest offensive in years against government forces in the northwest.\nRebel fighters late last month in Aleppo Province, in Syria’s north.\nCredit...\nAaref Watad\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nDec. 24, 2024\nThe offensive aims to stop attacks by government forces and their Iran-backed militia allies, a rebel commander said. It is the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s government in years.\nGovernment troops loyal to the president have been trying to repel the rebels, rushing reinforcements to the battlefield, launching airstrikes and getting support from Russian fighter jets, the Observatory has said.\nMore than 700 people, including more than 100 civilians\nhave been killed\nin the recent fighting, the monitoring group said. It gathers information from a network of anti-government activists and others across Syria, and its numbers could not be verified independently.\nWho are the rebels?\nThe offensive unites various rebel factions that represent the last vestiges of a once-sprawling array of opposition groups. Starting in 2011, they fought hard to oust Mr. al-Assad and, at one point, controlled large parts of the country.\nThe main group is\nHayat Tahrir al-Sham\n, a faction formerly linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda. It controls most of the northwestern territory still held by opposition groups.\nSeveral Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined the offensive, according to commanders of the groups and the Observatory.\nThough they share a common enemy, the various rebel factions have often fought among themselves, undermining the cohesion they needed to challenge the Syrian military.\nImage\nSmoke billowing last month from the site of clashes and exchanges of shelling between Syrian opposition factions and government forces in Aleppo Province.\nCredit...\nOmar Haj Kadour\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nWhat are the aims of the offensive?\nIn a video statement announcing the offensive, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdulghany, military commander of the opposition’s operations room, said the attack was aimed at stemming Syrian airstrikes and other attacks on opposition-held territory.\n“To push back their fire from our people, this operation is not a choice,” he said. “It is an obligation to defend our people and their land. It has become clear to everyone that the regime militias and their allies, including the Iranian mercenaries, have declared an open war on the Syrian people.”\nIran\nhas backed\nthe Syrian government throughout the war, sending advisers and commanders of its powerful Revolutionary Guards force to bases and front lines and backing militias, with thousands of fighters, to defend the government.\nWhat does the Syrian government say?\nA Syrian government statement said that Mr. al-Assad had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Iraq over the weekend, vowing that Syria would “defeat the terrorists, regardless of the intensity of their attacks.” Syrian officials routinely refer to rebels as terrorists.\nMr. al-Assad on Sunday directed Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, the army chief of staff, to pay a\nfield visit to Hama\n, where\nmilitary reinforcements\n, including troops, equipment and weapons, were also sent, the Syrian state media reported. On Sunday the president also met with Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who flew to Damascus to show support for the Syrian government.\nThe Syrian military said in a statement over the weekend that its operation to push back the rebels was “successfully” progressing. It tried to discredit reports about rebel advances, saying that the armed groups were spreading “false news” to undermine morale.\nIs this linked to the regional conflict?\nWhile Syria has not been directly involved in the conflicts roiling the Middle East over the past year, its territory has long been a proxy battlefield for international powers.\nFor years, Israel has carried out deadly strikes in Syria, saying its targets are Iran-backed militants, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have escalated since Hamas led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.\nThe Israeli military has said some of these strikes aim to cut off the flow of weapons and intelligence between Hezbollah and Iran. Weapons and money have long streamed from Iran across Syria’s borders to Hezbollah in Lebanon.\nImage\nThe aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy complex in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in April.\nCredit...\nFiras Makdesi\/Reuters\nIn April,\na deadly Israeli strike\nthat hit part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus killed several senior Iranian commanders.\nThe Iranian media reported last week that a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had been killed in the rebels’ new offensive.\nWho controls what in Syria?\nMore than a decade of civil war, proxy battles and an invasion by Islamic State terrorists have left Syria carved up into different zones of control.\nThe government now controls more than 60 percent of the country, including most major cities. But that was not always the case.\nAt the height of the opposition’s strength in the civil war, and after the Islamic State overran parts of Syria, the government had lost control of most of the country.\nBut the tide turned in 2015, when\nRussia’s military directly intervened\nto help Mr. al-Assad.\nStill, large parts of Syria are out of government control, including opposition-held areas in the northwest and the northeast, which is dominated by a Kurdish-led militia backed by the United States.\nThe opposition-controlled area of northwest Syria includes parts of Idlib and Aleppo Provinces and is home to about five million people. More than half of them were displaced from their homes elsewhere in Syria.\nThough the Islamic State\nlost its last territorial foothold\nin Syria in 2019, it maintains sleeper cells believed to hide in Syria’s vast desert and carry out occasional attacks on government soldiers\nand civilians\n.\nMuhammad Haj Kadour and Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting.\nA version of this article appears in print on\nNov. 29, 2024\n, Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition\n.\nOrder Reprints\n|\nToday’s Paper\n|\nSubscribe\nRelated Content\nMore in Middle East\nKenny Holston\/The New York Times\nNarges Mohammadi Foundation, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nAriel Schalit\/Associated Press\nEditors’ Picks\nBrian Rea\nWarner Bros.\nTrending in The Times\nPeyton Fulford for The New York Times\nDragan Arsovski\nSteffan Hill\/HBO\nAgence France-Presse — Getty Images\nIllustration by The New York Times; source photograph by Saul Loeb\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nAriana Drehsler for The New York Times\nWarner Bros. Pictures\nAdvertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#site-index)\n\nSearch & Section Navigation\n\nSection Navigation\n\nSearch\n\n[Middle East](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world\/middleeast)\n\n[Log in](https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252Farticle%252Fsyria-civil-war.html&asset=masthead)\n\nMonday, February 16, 2026\n\n[Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper)\n\nSyria After Civil War\n\n- [The Latest](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/us\/politics\/us-isis-prisoners.html)\n- [Saudi Investment](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/07\/world\/middleeast\/saudi-arabia-investment-syria-al-sharaa.html)\n- [A Country in Ruins](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/19\/world\/europe\/syria-aleppo-damascus-damage-reconstruction.html)\n- [The Assads’ Luxurious Exile](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/22\/world\/middleeast\/assad-syria-exile-luxury.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#after-top)\n\nSupported by\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#after-sponsor)\n# Why Did Syria’s Civil War Reignite?\nRebel groups have launched the largest offensive in years against government forces in the northwest.\n\n- Share full article\n\n![Two people on a bicycle in a ruined building.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/11\/28\/multimedia\/28syria-explainer-01-hkcv\/28syria-explainer-01-hkcv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nRebel fighters late last month in Aleppo Province, in Syria’s north.Credit...Aaref Watad\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n\n[![Raja Abdulrahim](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2022\/04\/06\/reader-center\/author-raja-abdulrahim\/author-raja-abdulrahim-thumbLarge.png)](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/raja-abdulrahim)\n\nBy [Raja Abdulrahim](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/raja-abdulrahim)\n\nDec. 24, 2024\n\nSyrian opposition fighters have made their [most significant advance](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/27\/world\/middleeast\/syria-opposition-forces-bases.html) in years against government forces, shaking up a civil war that had long been at a stalemate.\n\nThe new rebel offensive began last week in Aleppo Province in northwestern Syria. By the beginning of the weekend, antigovernment forces had [captured most of the major city of Aleppo](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/30\/world\/middleeast\/syria-aleppo-rebels-control.html), and [by Sunday](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/01\/world\/middleeast\/syria-war-aleppo-rebels-government.html), they were in [control of a broad stretch of land](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html) across the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo, in the west and northwest of Syria, according to the rebel-linked administration and a British-based monitoring group, the [Syrian Observatory for Human Rights](https:\/\/www.syriahr.com\/en\/350043\/). On Thursday, government forces [retreated from the city of Hama](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/05\/world\/middleeast\/syria-rebel-offensive-hama.html) after rebels advanced.\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/12\/05\/multimedia\/2024-12-03-syria-historic-control-maps-index\/2024-12-03-syria-historic-control-maps-index-threeByTwoSmallAt2X-v18.jpg)See How the War in Syria Has Changed A surprise advance by Syria’s rebels has redrawn a conflict marked for more than a decade by unusual, shifting alliances.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2024\/12\/06\/world\/middleeast\/syria-war-maps-control.html)\n\nThe offensive aims to stop attacks by government forces and their Iran-backed militia allies, a rebel commander said. It is the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s government in years.\n\nGovernment troops loyal to the president have been trying to repel the rebels, rushing reinforcements to the battlefield, launching airstrikes and getting support from Russian fighter jets, the Observatory has said.\n\nMore than 700 people, including more than 100 civilians [have been killed](https:\/\/www.syriahr.com\/en\/350580\/) in the recent fighting, the monitoring group said. It gathers information from a network of anti-government activists and others across Syria, and its numbers could not be verified independently.\n\n### Here’s what you need to know:\n- [Who are the rebels?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#link-305da7df)\n- [What are the aims of the offensive?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#link-2dfd4929)\n- [What does the Syrian government say?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#link-481e0513)\n- [Is this linked to the regional conflict?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#link-2698a9a3)\n- [Who controls what in Syria?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#link-604a56be)\n\n## Who are the rebels?\nThe offensive unites various rebel factions that represent the last vestiges of a once-sprawling array of opposition groups. Starting in 2011, they fought hard to oust Mr. al-Assad and, at one point, controlled large parts of the country.\n\nThe main group is [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/02\/world\/middleeast\/syria-rebels-hts-who-what.html), a faction formerly linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda. It controls most of the northwestern territory still held by opposition groups.\n\nSeveral Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined the offensive, according to commanders of the groups and the Observatory.\n\nThough they share a common enemy, the various rebel factions have often fought among themselves, undermining the cohesion they needed to challenge the Syrian military.\n\nImage\n\n![Plumes of smoke rising over a landscape of fields and some buildings.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/11\/28\/multimedia\/28syria-explainer-02-tbwf\/28syria-explainer-02-tbwf-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nSmoke billowing last month from the site of clashes and exchanges of shelling between Syrian opposition factions and government forces in Aleppo Province.Credit...Omar Haj Kadour\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n\n## What are the aims of the offensive?\nIn a video statement announcing the offensive, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdulghany, military commander of the opposition’s operations room, said the attack was aimed at stemming Syrian airstrikes and other attacks on opposition-held territory.\n\n“To push back their fire from our people, this operation is not a choice,” he said. “It is an obligation to defend our people and their land. It has become clear to everyone that the regime militias and their allies, including the Iranian mercenaries, have declared an open war on the Syrian people.”\n\nIran [has backed](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/19\/world\/middleeast\/iran-syria-israel.html) the Syrian government throughout the war, sending advisers and commanders of its powerful Revolutionary Guards force to bases and front lines and backing militias, with thousands of fighters, to defend the government.\n\n## What does the Syrian government say?\nA Syrian government statement said that Mr. al-Assad had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Iraq over the weekend, vowing that Syria would “defeat the terrorists, regardless of the intensity of their attacks.” Syrian officials routinely refer to rebels as terrorists.\n\nMr. al-Assad on Sunday directed Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, the army chief of staff, to pay a [field visit to Hama](https:\/\/x.com\/SANAEnOfficial\/status\/1863267022575939742), where [military reinforcements](https:\/\/x.com\/SANAEnOfficial\/status\/1863175166974427607), including troops, equipment and weapons, were also sent, the Syrian state media reported. On Sunday the president also met with Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who flew to Damascus to show support for the Syrian government.\n\nThe Syrian military said in a statement over the weekend that its operation to push back the rebels was “successfully” progressing. It tried to discredit reports about rebel advances, saying that the armed groups were spreading “false news” to undermine morale.\n\n## Is this linked to the regional conflict?\nWhile Syria has not been directly involved in the conflicts roiling the Middle East over the past year, its territory has long been a proxy battlefield for international powers.\n\n## Editors’ Picks\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/16\/multimedia\/13lovestory-gqbz\/13lovestory-gqbz-thumbLarge.jpg)‘Love Story’ Recreates a Tragic Romance](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/arts\/television\/love-story-john-f-kennedy-jr-carolyn-bessette.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/business\/12TrippedUp-illo\/12TrippedUp-illo-thumbLarge.jpg)Help! JetBlue Mangled My Vintage Louis Vuitton Bag and Won’t Pay Up.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/travel\/jetblue-luggage-damage-repairs.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/01\/28\/business\/00Biz-Financial-Quiz-33\/00Biz-Financial-Quiz-33-thumbLarge.jpg)How Strong Is Your Financial Knowledge? Take Our Quiz.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/30\/business\/financial-knowledge-quiz.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#after-pp_edpick)\n\nFor years, Israel has carried out deadly strikes in Syria, saying its targets are Iran-backed militants, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have escalated since Hamas led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.\n\nThe Israeli military has said some of these strikes aim to cut off the flow of weapons and intelligence between Hezbollah and Iran. Weapons and money have long streamed from Iran across Syria’s borders to Hezbollah in Lebanon.\n\nImage\n\n![Smoke and dust rising from the remains of a building with people milling around nearby.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/11\/28\/world\/28syria-assess-strike\/28syria-assess-strike-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nThe aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy complex in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in April.Credit...Firas Makdesi\/Reuters\n\nIn April, [a deadly Israeli strike](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/05\/world\/middleeast\/iran-airstrike-syria-funeral.html?searchResultPosition=2) that hit part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus killed several senior Iranian commanders.\n\nThe Iranian media reported last week that a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had been killed in the rebels’ new offensive.\n\n## Who controls what in Syria?\nMore than a decade of civil war, proxy battles and an invasion by Islamic State terrorists have left Syria carved up into different zones of control.\n\nThe government now controls more than 60 percent of the country, including most major cities. But that was not always the case.\n\nAt the height of the opposition’s strength in the civil war, and after the Islamic State overran parts of Syria, the government had lost control of most of the country.\n\nBut the tide turned in 2015, when [Russia’s military directly intervened](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/10\/06\/world\/middleeast\/russian-soldiers-join-syria-fight.html) to help Mr. al-Assad.\n\nStill, large parts of Syria are out of government control, including opposition-held areas in the northwest and the northeast, which is dominated by a Kurdish-led militia backed by the United States.\n\nThe opposition-controlled area of northwest Syria includes parts of Idlib and Aleppo Provinces and is home to about five million people. More than half of them were displaced from their homes elsewhere in Syria.\n\nThough the Islamic State [lost its last territorial foothold](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/03\/23\/world\/middleeast\/isis-syria-caliphate.html) in Syria in 2019, it maintains sleeper cells believed to hide in Syria’s vast desert and carry out occasional attacks on government soldiers [and civilians](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/04\/10\/world\/middleeast\/syria-truffles-war.html).\n\nMuhammad Haj Kadour and Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting.\n\n[Raja Abdulrahim](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/raja-abdulrahim) reports on the Middle East and is based in Jerusalem.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on Nov. 29, 2024, Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\nSee more on: [Syrian Observatory for Human Rights](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/topic\/syrian-observatory-for-human-rights), [Bashar al-Assad](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/topic\/person\/bashar-alassad), [Syrian Army](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/topic\/syrian-army), [National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/topic\/organization\/national-coalition-of-syrian-revolutionary-and-opposition-forces)\n\n- Share full article\n\n## Related Content\n### [More in Middle East](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world\/middleeast)\n- [Trump’s Stinging Attack on Israel’s President Touches a Nerve](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/15\/world\/middleeast\/trump-israel-herzog-attacks.html)\n  \n  ![President Trump with Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport in October.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/multimedia\/15int-trump-herzog-vqkp\/15int-trump-herzog-vqkp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Kenny Holston\/The New York Times\n- [Iranian Nobel Laureate Gets Second Prison Sentence and Ends Hunger Strike](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/08\/world\/middleeast\/iran-narges-mohammadi-second-sentence.html)\n  \n  ![Narges Mohammadi in an undated photo provided by her foundation in 2023.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/08\/multimedia\/08int-iran-mohammadi-qwmz\/08int-iran-mohammadi-qwmz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Narges Mohammadi Foundation, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- [Iran Protester’s Death in Custody Sparks Outrage. His Family Believes He Was Executed.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/15\/world\/middleeast\/ali-rahbar-iran-protester.html)\n  \n  ![Ali Rahbar, a gym coach, in a photograph from social media.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/world\/00-int-iran-executions\/00-int-iran-executions-square640.png?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n- [Israelis Protest Surge in Gun Crime Within Arab Community](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/10\/world\/middleeast\/israelis-protest-surge-in-gun-crime-within-arab-community.html)\n  \n  ![Protesters calling for greater security amid rising crime in their communities in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/10\/multimedia\/10int-israel-protests-01-pfkt\/10int-israel-protests-01-pfkt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Ariel Schalit\/Associated Press\n\n### Editors’ Picks\n- [I Had Buyer’s Remorse. 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Would These Teens Make the Cut?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/16\/nyregion\/nyc-lifeguard-test.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/09\/00MET-LIFEGUARD-TEST-TOP-bwvt-cover\/00MET-LIFEGUARD-TEST-TOP-bwvt-cover-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n- [Republican State Legislators Rush to Limit Their Own Regulators](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/15\/us\/politics\/states-deregulation.html)\n  \n  ![Some business owners like Gail Nicholls, owner of Red Bug Barn, a pet supply store in Richburg, S.C., support deregulation. 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[Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)","attrs_readable_markdown":"Advertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html#after-top)\n\nRebel groups have launched the largest offensive in years against government forces in the northwest.\n\n![Two people on a bicycle in a ruined building.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/11\/28\/multimedia\/28syria-explainer-01-hkcv\/28syria-explainer-01-hkcv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nRebel fighters late last month in Aleppo Province, in Syria’s north.Credit...Aaref Watad\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n\nDec. 24, 2024\n\nThe offensive aims to stop attacks by government forces and their Iran-backed militia allies, a rebel commander said. It is the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s government in years.\n\nGovernment troops loyal to the president have been trying to repel the rebels, rushing reinforcements to the battlefield, launching airstrikes and getting support from Russian fighter jets, the Observatory has said.\n\nMore than 700 people, including more than 100 civilians [have been killed](https:\/\/www.syriahr.com\/en\/350580\/) in the recent fighting, the monitoring group said. It gathers information from a network of anti-government activists and others across Syria, and its numbers could not be verified independently.\n\n## Who are the rebels?\nThe offensive unites various rebel factions that represent the last vestiges of a once-sprawling array of opposition groups. Starting in 2011, they fought hard to oust Mr. al-Assad and, at one point, controlled large parts of the country.\n\nThe main group is [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/02\/world\/middleeast\/syria-rebels-hts-who-what.html), a faction formerly linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda. It controls most of the northwestern territory still held by opposition groups.\n\nSeveral Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined the offensive, according to commanders of the groups and the Observatory.\n\nThough they share a common enemy, the various rebel factions have often fought among themselves, undermining the cohesion they needed to challenge the Syrian military.\n\nImage\n\n![Plumes of smoke rising over a landscape of fields and some buildings.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/11\/28\/multimedia\/28syria-explainer-02-tbwf\/28syria-explainer-02-tbwf-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nSmoke billowing last month from the site of clashes and exchanges of shelling between Syrian opposition factions and government forces in Aleppo Province.Credit...Omar Haj Kadour\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n\n## What are the aims of the offensive?\nIn a video statement announcing the offensive, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdulghany, military commander of the opposition’s operations room, said the attack was aimed at stemming Syrian airstrikes and other attacks on opposition-held territory.\n\n“To push back their fire from our people, this operation is not a choice,” he said. “It is an obligation to defend our people and their land. It has become clear to everyone that the regime militias and their allies, including the Iranian mercenaries, have declared an open war on the Syrian people.”\n\nIran [has backed](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/19\/world\/middleeast\/iran-syria-israel.html) the Syrian government throughout the war, sending advisers and commanders of its powerful Revolutionary Guards force to bases and front lines and backing militias, with thousands of fighters, to defend the government.\n\n## What does the Syrian government say?\nA Syrian government statement said that Mr. al-Assad had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Iraq over the weekend, vowing that Syria would “defeat the terrorists, regardless of the intensity of their attacks.” Syrian officials routinely refer to rebels as terrorists.\n\nMr. al-Assad on Sunday directed Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, the army chief of staff, to pay a [field visit to Hama](https:\/\/x.com\/SANAEnOfficial\/status\/1863267022575939742), where [military reinforcements](https:\/\/x.com\/SANAEnOfficial\/status\/1863175166974427607), including troops, equipment and weapons, were also sent, the Syrian state media reported. On Sunday the president also met with Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who flew to Damascus to show support for the Syrian government.\n\nThe Syrian military said in a statement over the weekend that its operation to push back the rebels was “successfully” progressing. It tried to discredit reports about rebel advances, saying that the armed groups were spreading “false news” to undermine morale.\n\n## Is this linked to the regional conflict?\nWhile Syria has not been directly involved in the conflicts roiling the Middle East over the past year, its territory has long been a proxy battlefield for international powers.\n\nFor years, Israel has carried out deadly strikes in Syria, saying its targets are Iran-backed militants, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have escalated since Hamas led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.\n\nThe Israeli military has said some of these strikes aim to cut off the flow of weapons and intelligence between Hezbollah and Iran. Weapons and money have long streamed from Iran across Syria’s borders to Hezbollah in Lebanon.\n\nImage\n\n![Smoke and dust rising from the remains of a building with people milling around nearby.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/11\/28\/world\/28syria-assess-strike\/28syria-assess-strike-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nThe aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy complex in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in April.Credit...Firas Makdesi\/Reuters\n\nIn April, [a deadly Israeli strike](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/05\/world\/middleeast\/iran-airstrike-syria-funeral.html?searchResultPosition=2) that hit part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus killed several senior Iranian commanders.\n\nThe Iranian media reported last week that a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had been killed in the rebels’ new offensive.\n\n## Who controls what in Syria?\nMore than a decade of civil war, proxy battles and an invasion by Islamic State terrorists have left Syria carved up into different zones of control.\n\nThe government now controls more than 60 percent of the country, including most major cities. But that was not always the case.\n\nAt the height of the opposition’s strength in the civil war, and after the Islamic State overran parts of Syria, the government had lost control of most of the country.\n\nBut the tide turned in 2015, when [Russia’s military directly intervened](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/10\/06\/world\/middleeast\/russian-soldiers-join-syria-fight.html) to help Mr. al-Assad.\n\nStill, large parts of Syria are out of government control, including opposition-held areas in the northwest and the northeast, which is dominated by a Kurdish-led militia backed by the United States.\n\nThe opposition-controlled area of northwest Syria includes parts of Idlib and Aleppo Provinces and is home to about five million people. More than half of them were displaced from their homes elsewhere in Syria.\n\nThough the Islamic State [lost its last territorial foothold](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/03\/23\/world\/middleeast\/isis-syria-caliphate.html) in Syria in 2019, it maintains sleeper cells believed to hide in Syria’s vast desert and carry out occasional attacks on government soldiers [and civilians](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/04\/10\/world\/middleeast\/syria-truffles-war.html).\n\nMuhammad Haj Kadour and Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on Nov. 29, 2024, Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n## Related Content\n[More in Middle East](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world\/middleeast)\n\n- ![President Trump with Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport in October.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/multimedia\/15int-trump-herzog-vqkp\/15int-trump-herzog-vqkp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Kenny Holston\/The New York Times\n- ![Narges Mohammadi in an undated photo provided by her foundation in 2023.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/08\/multimedia\/08int-iran-mohammadi-qwmz\/08int-iran-mohammadi-qwmz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Narges Mohammadi Foundation, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- ![Ali Rahbar, a gym coach, in a photograph from social media.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/world\/00-int-iran-executions\/00-int-iran-executions-square640.png?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n- ![Protesters calling for greater security amid rising crime in their communities in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/10\/multimedia\/10int-israel-protests-01-pfkt\/10int-israel-protests-01-pfkt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Ariel Schalit\/Associated Press\n\nEditors’ Picks\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/fashion\/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE\/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Brian Rea\n- ![Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff in a scene from the new “Wuthering Heights.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/healthcliff-explainer-gfph\/healthcliff-explainer-gfph-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Warner Bros.\n\nTrending in The Times\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/09\/00MET-LIFEGUARD-TEST-TOP-bwvt-cover\/00MET-LIFEGUARD-TEST-TOP-bwvt-cover-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n- ![Some business owners like Gail Nicholls, owner of Red Bug Barn, a pet supply store in Richburg, S.C., support deregulation. Ms. Nicholls spends hours each week applying for permits.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/multimedia\/15nat-sc-regulations-gail-top-ckjt\/15nat-sc-regulations-gail-top-ckjt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n- ![Narciso Barranco, center, and his wife, Martha, at a church in Tustin, Calif., in August.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/00NAT-IMMIG-BARRANCO-pthv\/00NAT-IMMIG-BARRANCO-pthv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Peyton Fulford for The New York Times\n- ![A Hermann’s tortoise of North Macedonia’s Golem Grad island, with an injury from a fall on its carapace.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/14\/multimedia\/14HS-tb-tortoises-stillpromo\/14HS-tb-tortoises-stillpromo-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Dragan Arsovski\n- ![Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) had good reason to look worried.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/arts\/15cul-knight-recap\/15cul-knight-recap-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Steffan Hill\/HBO\n- ![Daniel Cathiard in 2025. When he and his wife, Florence, bought Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte in 1990, wine critics thought its best days were behind it.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/11Cathiard--bglh\/11Cathiard--bglh-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/arts\/RV_RomanceRoulette\/RV_RomanceRoulette-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/opinion\/15polgreen-tktk\/14polgreen-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Illustration by The New York Times; source photograph by Saul Loeb\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/multimedia\/12nat-culver-city-qcfg\/12nat-culver-city-qcfg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times\n- ![Margot Robbie in “Wuthering Heights.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb\/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Warner Bros. 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Boilerpipe Text	Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Rebel groups have launched the largest offensive in years against government forces in the northwest. Rebel fighters late last month in Aleppo Province, in Syria’s north. Credit... Aaref Watad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Dec. 24, 2024 The offensive aims to stop attacks by government forces and their Iran-backed militia allies, a rebel commander said. It is the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s government in years. Government troops loyal to the president have been trying to repel the rebels, rushing reinforcements to the battlefield, launching airstrikes and getting support from Russian fighter jets, the Observatory has said. More than 700 people, including more than 100 civilians have been killed in the recent fighting, the monitoring group said. It gathers information from a network of anti-government activists and others across Syria, and its numbers could not be verified independently. Who are the rebels? The offensive unites various rebel factions that represent the last vestiges of a once-sprawling array of opposition groups. Starting in 2011, they fought hard to oust Mr. al-Assad and, at one point, controlled large parts of the country. The main group is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham , a faction formerly linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda. It controls most of the northwestern territory still held by opposition groups. Several Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined the offensive, according to commanders of the groups and the Observatory. Though they share a common enemy, the various rebel factions have often fought among themselves, undermining the cohesion they needed to challenge the Syrian military. Image Smoke billowing last month from the site of clashes and exchanges of shelling between Syrian opposition factions and government forces in Aleppo Province. Credit... Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images What are the aims of the offensive? In a video statement announcing the offensive, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdulghany, military commander of the opposition’s operations room, said the attack was aimed at stemming Syrian airstrikes and other attacks on opposition-held territory. “To push back their fire from our people, this operation is not a choice,” he said. “It is an obligation to defend our people and their land. It has become clear to everyone that the regime militias and their allies, including the Iranian mercenaries, have declared an open war on the Syrian people.” Iran has backed the Syrian government throughout the war, sending advisers and commanders of its powerful Revolutionary Guards force to bases and front lines and backing militias, with thousands of fighters, to defend the government. What does the Syrian government say? A Syrian government statement said that Mr. al-Assad had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Iraq over the weekend, vowing that Syria would “defeat the terrorists, regardless of the intensity of their attacks.” Syrian officials routinely refer to rebels as terrorists. Mr. al-Assad on Sunday directed Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, the army chief of staff, to pay a field visit to Hama , where military reinforcements , including troops, equipment and weapons, were also sent, the Syrian state media reported. On Sunday the president also met with Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who flew to Damascus to show support for the Syrian government. The Syrian military said in a statement over the weekend that its operation to push back the rebels was “successfully” progressing. It tried to discredit reports about rebel advances, saying that the armed groups were spreading “false news” to undermine morale. Is this linked to the regional conflict? While Syria has not been directly involved in the conflicts roiling the Middle East over the past year, its territory has long been a proxy battlefield for international powers. For years, Israel has carried out deadly strikes in Syria, saying its targets are Iran-backed militants, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have escalated since Hamas led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The Israeli military has said some of these strikes aim to cut off the flow of weapons and intelligence between Hezbollah and Iran. Weapons and money have long streamed from Iran across Syria’s borders to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Image The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy complex in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in April. Credit... Firas Makdesi/Reuters In April, a deadly Israeli strike that hit part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus killed several senior Iranian commanders. The Iranian media reported last week that a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had been killed in the rebels’ new offensive. Who controls what in Syria? More than a decade of civil war, proxy battles and an invasion by Islamic State terrorists have left Syria carved up into different zones of control. The government now controls more than 60 percent of the country, including most major cities. But that was not always the case. At the height of the opposition’s strength in the civil war, and after the Islamic State overran parts of Syria, the government had lost control of most of the country. But the tide turned in 2015, when Russia’s military directly intervened to help Mr. al-Assad. Still, large parts of Syria are out of government control, including opposition-held areas in the northwest and the northeast, which is dominated by a Kurdish-led militia backed by the United States. The opposition-controlled area of northwest Syria includes parts of Idlib and Aleppo Provinces and is home to about five million people. More than half of them were displaced from their homes elsewhere in Syria. Though the Islamic State lost its last territorial foothold in Syria in 2019, it maintains sleeper cells believed to hide in Syria’s vast desert and carry out occasional attacks on government soldiers and civilians . Muhammad Haj Kadour and Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting. A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 29, 2024 , Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition . Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Related Content More in Middle East Kenny Holston/The New York Times Narges Mohammadi Foundation, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Ariel Schalit/Associated Press Editors’ Picks Brian Rea Warner Bros. Trending in The Times Peyton Fulford for The New York Times Dragan Arsovski Steffan Hill/HBO Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Illustration by The New York Times; source photograph by Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times Warner Bros. Pictures Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Markdown	[Skip to content](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#site-index) Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation Search [Middle East](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world/middleeast) [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252Farticle%252Fsyria-civil-war.html&asset=masthead) Monday, February 16, 2026 [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) Syria After Civil War - [The Latest](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/us/politics/us-isis-prisoners.html) - [Saudi Investment](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-investment-syria-al-sharaa.html) - [A Country in Ruins](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/world/europe/syria-aleppo-damascus-damage-reconstruction.html) - [The Assads’ Luxurious Exile](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/world/middleeast/assad-syria-exile-luxury.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#after-top) Supported by [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#after-sponsor) # Why Did Syria’s Civil War Reignite? Rebel groups have launched the largest offensive in years against government forces in the northwest. - Share full article ![Two people on a bicycle in a ruined building.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/11/28/multimedia/28syria-explainer-01-hkcv/28syria-explainer-01-hkcv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Rebel fighters late last month in Aleppo Province, in Syria’s north.Credit...Aaref Watad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images [![Raja Abdulrahim](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/04/06/reader-center/author-raja-abdulrahim/author-raja-abdulrahim-thumbLarge.png)](https://www.nytimes.com/by/raja-abdulrahim) By [Raja Abdulrahim](https://www.nytimes.com/by/raja-abdulrahim) Dec. 24, 2024 Syrian opposition fighters have made their [most significant advance](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/world/middleeast/syria-opposition-forces-bases.html) in years against government forces, shaking up a civil war that had long been at a stalemate. The new rebel offensive began last week in Aleppo Province in northwestern Syria. By the beginning of the weekend, antigovernment forces had [captured most of the major city of Aleppo](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/30/world/middleeast/syria-aleppo-rebels-control.html), and [by Sunday](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/world/middleeast/syria-war-aleppo-rebels-government.html), they were in [control of a broad stretch of land](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html) across the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo, in the west and northwest of Syria, according to the rebel-linked administration and a British-based monitoring group, the [Syrian Observatory for Human Rights](https://www.syriahr.com/en/350043/). On Thursday, government forces [retreated from the city of Hama](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/world/middleeast/syria-rebel-offensive-hama.html) after rebels advanced. [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/12/05/multimedia/2024-12-03-syria-historic-control-maps-index/2024-12-03-syria-historic-control-maps-index-threeByTwoSmallAt2X-v18.jpg)See How the War in Syria Has Changed A surprise advance by Syria’s rebels has redrawn a conflict marked for more than a decade by unusual, shifting alliances.](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/12/06/world/middleeast/syria-war-maps-control.html) The offensive aims to stop attacks by government forces and their Iran-backed militia allies, a rebel commander said. It is the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s government in years. Government troops loyal to the president have been trying to repel the rebels, rushing reinforcements to the battlefield, launching airstrikes and getting support from Russian fighter jets, the Observatory has said. More than 700 people, including more than 100 civilians [have been killed](https://www.syriahr.com/en/350580/) in the recent fighting, the monitoring group said. It gathers information from a network of anti-government activists and others across Syria, and its numbers could not be verified independently. ### Here’s what you need to know: - [Who are the rebels?](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#link-305da7df) - [What are the aims of the offensive?](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#link-2dfd4929) - [What does the Syrian government say?](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#link-481e0513) - [Is this linked to the regional conflict?](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#link-2698a9a3) - [Who controls what in Syria?](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#link-604a56be) ## Who are the rebels? The offensive unites various rebel factions that represent the last vestiges of a once-sprawling array of opposition groups. Starting in 2011, they fought hard to oust Mr. al-Assad and, at one point, controlled large parts of the country. The main group is [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/world/middleeast/syria-rebels-hts-who-what.html), a faction formerly linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda. It controls most of the northwestern territory still held by opposition groups. Several Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined the offensive, according to commanders of the groups and the Observatory. Though they share a common enemy, the various rebel factions have often fought among themselves, undermining the cohesion they needed to challenge the Syrian military. Image ![Plumes of smoke rising over a landscape of fields and some buildings.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/11/28/multimedia/28syria-explainer-02-tbwf/28syria-explainer-02-tbwf-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Smoke billowing last month from the site of clashes and exchanges of shelling between Syrian opposition factions and government forces in Aleppo Province.Credit...Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images ## What are the aims of the offensive? In a video statement announcing the offensive, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdulghany, military commander of the opposition’s operations room, said the attack was aimed at stemming Syrian airstrikes and other attacks on opposition-held territory. “To push back their fire from our people, this operation is not a choice,” he said. “It is an obligation to defend our people and their land. It has become clear to everyone that the regime militias and their allies, including the Iranian mercenaries, have declared an open war on the Syrian people.” Iran [has backed](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/world/middleeast/iran-syria-israel.html) the Syrian government throughout the war, sending advisers and commanders of its powerful Revolutionary Guards force to bases and front lines and backing militias, with thousands of fighters, to defend the government. ## What does the Syrian government say? A Syrian government statement said that Mr. al-Assad had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Iraq over the weekend, vowing that Syria would “defeat the terrorists, regardless of the intensity of their attacks.” Syrian officials routinely refer to rebels as terrorists. Mr. al-Assad on Sunday directed Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, the army chief of staff, to pay a [field visit to Hama](https://x.com/SANAEnOfficial/status/1863267022575939742), where [military reinforcements](https://x.com/SANAEnOfficial/status/1863175166974427607), including troops, equipment and weapons, were also sent, the Syrian state media reported. On Sunday the president also met with Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who flew to Damascus to show support for the Syrian government. The Syrian military said in a statement over the weekend that its operation to push back the rebels was “successfully” progressing. It tried to discredit reports about rebel advances, saying that the armed groups were spreading “false news” to undermine morale. ## Is this linked to the regional conflict? While Syria has not been directly involved in the conflicts roiling the Middle East over the past year, its territory has long been a proxy battlefield for international powers. ## Editors’ Picks [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/16/multimedia/13lovestory-gqbz/13lovestory-gqbz-thumbLarge.jpg)‘Love Story’ Recreates a Tragic Romance](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/arts/television/love-story-john-f-kennedy-jr-carolyn-bessette.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/12/business/12TrippedUp-illo/12TrippedUp-illo-thumbLarge.jpg)Help! JetBlue Mangled My Vintage Louis Vuitton Bag and Won’t Pay Up.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/travel/jetblue-luggage-damage-repairs.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/01/28/business/00Biz-Financial-Quiz-33/00Biz-Financial-Quiz-33-thumbLarge.jpg)How Strong Is Your Financial Knowledge? Take Our Quiz.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/business/financial-knowledge-quiz.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#after-pp_edpick) For years, Israel has carried out deadly strikes in Syria, saying its targets are Iran-backed militants, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have escalated since Hamas led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The Israeli military has said some of these strikes aim to cut off the flow of weapons and intelligence between Hezbollah and Iran. Weapons and money have long streamed from Iran across Syria’s borders to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Image ![Smoke and dust rising from the remains of a building with people milling around nearby.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/11/28/world/28syria-assess-strike/28syria-assess-strike-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy complex in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in April.Credit...Firas Makdesi/Reuters In April, [a deadly Israeli strike](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/world/middleeast/iran-airstrike-syria-funeral.html?searchResultPosition=2) that hit part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus killed several senior Iranian commanders. The Iranian media reported last week that a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had been killed in the rebels’ new offensive. ## Who controls what in Syria? More than a decade of civil war, proxy battles and an invasion by Islamic State terrorists have left Syria carved up into different zones of control. The government now controls more than 60 percent of the country, including most major cities. But that was not always the case. At the height of the opposition’s strength in the civil war, and after the Islamic State overran parts of Syria, the government had lost control of most of the country. But the tide turned in 2015, when [Russia’s military directly intervened](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/world/middleeast/russian-soldiers-join-syria-fight.html) to help Mr. al-Assad. Still, large parts of Syria are out of government control, including opposition-held areas in the northwest and the northeast, which is dominated by a Kurdish-led militia backed by the United States. The opposition-controlled area of northwest Syria includes parts of Idlib and Aleppo Provinces and is home to about five million people. More than half of them were displaced from their homes elsewhere in Syria. Though the Islamic State [lost its last territorial foothold](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/world/middleeast/isis-syria-caliphate.html) in Syria in 2019, it maintains sleeper cells believed to hide in Syria’s vast desert and carry out occasional attacks on government soldiers [and civilians](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/10/world/middleeast/syria-truffles-war.html). Muhammad Haj Kadour and Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting. [Raja Abdulrahim](https://www.nytimes.com/by/raja-abdulrahim) reports on the Middle East and is based in Jerusalem. A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 29, 2024, Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) See more on: [Syrian Observatory for Human Rights](https://www.nytimes.com/topic/syrian-observatory-for-human-rights), [Bashar al-Assad](https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/bashar-alassad), [Syrian Army](https://www.nytimes.com/topic/syrian-army), [National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces](https://www.nytimes.com/topic/organization/national-coalition-of-syrian-revolutionary-and-opposition-forces) - Share full article ## Related Content ### [More in Middle East](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world/middleeast) - [Trump’s Stinging Attack on Israel’s President Touches a Nerve](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/world/middleeast/trump-israel-herzog-attacks.html) ![President Trump with Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport in October.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/15/multimedia/15int-trump-herzog-vqkp/15int-trump-herzog-vqkp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Kenny Holston/The New York Times - [Iranian Nobel Laureate Gets Second Prison Sentence and Ends Hunger Strike](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/world/middleeast/iran-narges-mohammadi-second-sentence.html) ![Narges Mohammadi in an undated photo provided by her foundation in 2023.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/08/multimedia/08int-iran-mohammadi-qwmz/08int-iran-mohammadi-qwmz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Narges Mohammadi Foundation, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images - [Iran Protester’s Death in Custody Sparks Outrage. 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Readable Markdown	Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/article/syria-civil-war.html#after-top) Rebel groups have launched the largest offensive in years against government forces in the northwest. ![Two people on a bicycle in a ruined building.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/11/28/multimedia/28syria-explainer-01-hkcv/28syria-explainer-01-hkcv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Rebel fighters late last month in Aleppo Province, in Syria’s north.Credit...Aaref Watad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Dec. 24, 2024 The offensive aims to stop attacks by government forces and their Iran-backed militia allies, a rebel commander said. It is the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s government in years. Government troops loyal to the president have been trying to repel the rebels, rushing reinforcements to the battlefield, launching airstrikes and getting support from Russian fighter jets, the Observatory has said. More than 700 people, including more than 100 civilians [have been killed](https://www.syriahr.com/en/350580/) in the recent fighting, the monitoring group said. It gathers information from a network of anti-government activists and others across Syria, and its numbers could not be verified independently. ## Who are the rebels? The offensive unites various rebel factions that represent the last vestiges of a once-sprawling array of opposition groups. Starting in 2011, they fought hard to oust Mr. al-Assad and, at one point, controlled large parts of the country. The main group is [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/world/middleeast/syria-rebels-hts-who-what.html), a faction formerly linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda. It controls most of the northwestern territory still held by opposition groups. Several Turkish-backed rebel groups have also joined the offensive, according to commanders of the groups and the Observatory. Though they share a common enemy, the various rebel factions have often fought among themselves, undermining the cohesion they needed to challenge the Syrian military. Image ![Plumes of smoke rising over a landscape of fields and some buildings.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/11/28/multimedia/28syria-explainer-02-tbwf/28syria-explainer-02-tbwf-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Smoke billowing last month from the site of clashes and exchanges of shelling between Syrian opposition factions and government forces in Aleppo Province.Credit...Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images ## What are the aims of the offensive? In a video statement announcing the offensive, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdulghany, military commander of the opposition’s operations room, said the attack was aimed at stemming Syrian airstrikes and other attacks on opposition-held territory. “To push back their fire from our people, this operation is not a choice,” he said. “It is an obligation to defend our people and their land. It has become clear to everyone that the regime militias and their allies, including the Iranian mercenaries, have declared an open war on the Syrian people.” Iran [has backed](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/world/middleeast/iran-syria-israel.html) the Syrian government throughout the war, sending advisers and commanders of its powerful Revolutionary Guards force to bases and front lines and backing militias, with thousands of fighters, to defend the government. ## What does the Syrian government say? A Syrian government statement said that Mr. al-Assad had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Iraq over the weekend, vowing that Syria would “defeat the terrorists, regardless of the intensity of their attacks.” Syrian officials routinely refer to rebels as terrorists. Mr. al-Assad on Sunday directed Gen. Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim, the army chief of staff, to pay a [field visit to Hama](https://x.com/SANAEnOfficial/status/1863267022575939742), where [military reinforcements](https://x.com/SANAEnOfficial/status/1863175166974427607), including troops, equipment and weapons, were also sent, the Syrian state media reported. On Sunday the president also met with Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who flew to Damascus to show support for the Syrian government. The Syrian military said in a statement over the weekend that its operation to push back the rebels was “successfully” progressing. It tried to discredit reports about rebel advances, saying that the armed groups were spreading “false news” to undermine morale. ## Is this linked to the regional conflict? While Syria has not been directly involved in the conflicts roiling the Middle East over the past year, its territory has long been a proxy battlefield for international powers. For years, Israel has carried out deadly strikes in Syria, saying its targets are Iran-backed militants, including the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Those strikes have escalated since Hamas led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The Israeli military has said some of these strikes aim to cut off the flow of weapons and intelligence between Hezbollah and Iran. Weapons and money have long streamed from Iran across Syria’s borders to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Image ![Smoke and dust rising from the remains of a building with people milling around nearby.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/11/28/world/28syria-assess-strike/28syria-assess-strike-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian Embassy complex in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in April.Credit...Firas Makdesi/Reuters In April, [a deadly Israeli strike](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/world/middleeast/iran-airstrike-syria-funeral.html?searchResultPosition=2) that hit part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus killed several senior Iranian commanders. The Iranian media reported last week that a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had been killed in the rebels’ new offensive. ## Who controls what in Syria? More than a decade of civil war, proxy battles and an invasion by Islamic State terrorists have left Syria carved up into different zones of control. The government now controls more than 60 percent of the country, including most major cities. But that was not always the case. At the height of the opposition’s strength in the civil war, and after the Islamic State overran parts of Syria, the government had lost control of most of the country. But the tide turned in 2015, when [Russia’s military directly intervened](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/world/middleeast/russian-soldiers-join-syria-fight.html) to help Mr. al-Assad. Still, large parts of Syria are out of government control, including opposition-held areas in the northwest and the northeast, which is dominated by a Kurdish-led militia backed by the United States. The opposition-controlled area of northwest Syria includes parts of Idlib and Aleppo Provinces and is home to about five million people. More than half of them were displaced from their homes elsewhere in Syria. Though the Islamic State [lost its last territorial foothold](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/world/middleeast/isis-syria-caliphate.html) in Syria in 2019, it maintains sleeper cells believed to hide in Syria’s vast desert and carry out occasional attacks on government soldiers [and civilians](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/10/world/middleeast/syria-truffles-war.html). Muhammad Haj Kadour and Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting. A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 29, 2024, Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition. 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