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CV NEWS FEED // The city of Aleppo, Syria, is once again engulfed in fear and uncertainty as opposition militia groups, led by the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), advanced Nov. 27 from the Idlib province.
According to AsiaNews, recent days have seen intense shelling and a large-scale offensive that has left residents in a state of apprehension, as reported by Father Bahjat Karakach, pastor at Aleppo’s Church of St. Francis of Assisi.
“In the city we can distinctly hear shelling,” the priest told AsiaNews. “People are afraid, schools are closed, and classes suspended amid a climate of great apprehension and even catechism courses in parishes have been stopped.”
“People are now tired and do not have enough energy to face another battle, the start of another war,” he continued. “The fear is real, palpable, and the sounds of shelling can be heard very distinctly, so much so that people have not been able to sleep for three nights.”
Anti-Assad forces launched their offensive Nov. 27, marking the first major seizure of territory from the Syrian government since the fighting was restricted to Idlib. Bashar al-Assad has been the president of Syria since 2000, and the Assad family has been in power in Syria for 53 years.
The offensive has already claimed 242 lives, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Four civilians in Aleppo and 19 others in opposition-held areas targeted by Syrian and Russian airstrikes have died.
The Associated Press reported that HTS took over most of the city of Aleppo on Nov. 30, “establishing positions in the country’s largest city and controlling its airport before expanding their shock offensive to a nearby province.”
Nadine Maenza of the International Religious Freedom Secretariat warned in a post on X that HTS are Turkish-backed Islamists, ideologically akin to ISIS.
According to AsiaNews, HTS and allied factions have captured towns and villages in both the Aleppo and Idlib provinces. Despite Russian air support, the Assad-regime forces appeared unprepared for the attack, SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman noted, suggesting the lack of Hezbollah’s involvement, as it focuses on the conflict with Israel, may have weakened the government’s response.
Aleppo, once Syria’s economic hub, has become a symbol of the war’s devastation. The city’s Christian community, gearing up for the Advent season, now finds itself disrupted by the conflict.
“The spirit has changed suddenly,” Fr. Karakach lamented. “We still try to live the situation with joy, but the atmosphere has inevitably become heavier.”
The broader situation in Idlib, the opposition’s last stronghold, remains dire. More than 4 million people, many displaced by the conflict, live in harsh conditions. Turkey-backed militias, operating under the Syrian National Army (SNA), and Turkish forces add to the region’s complexity.
The UN has warned that escalating violence in Gaza and Lebanon is amplifying tensions in northwest Syria. Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, highlighted renewed Russian airstrikes and an increase in government drone attacks. In response, HTS claimed its offensive was launched to “deter aggression” and “thwart the enemy’s plans.”
Humanitarian organizations report worsening conditions. The International Rescue Committee noted that nearly 7,000 families have been displaced. Health facilities and schools were forced to close. David Carden, the UN’s deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, said in an October 17 statement that he was “alarmed by the escalating hostilities and violence in north-west Syria since 14 October.”
Fr. Karakach underscored the ongoing instability in Syria, blaming the current escalation on the political stalemate of recent years.
“A real and final solution has never been reached, only fragile deals that could not last,” he said, calling for decisive international intervention.
For Aleppo’s residents, the hope for peace remains distant as they face yet another chapter of violence in a conflict that has claimed over half a million lives since 2011.
>> URGENT: CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES FACE EXTERMINATION AS JIHADISTS TAKE CONTROL OF SYRIAN TOWN <<
Following HTS’s seizure of large parts of Aleppo and surrounding areas November 30, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) issued an urgent appeal for global prayer and intervention to prevent a massacre of Christians and other minorities in the city.
In an email statement to CatholicVote, ACN shared a missionary’s report detailing the dire situation: hospitals overwhelmed, widespread fear, and ongoing violence within 10 kilometers of Aleppo. ACN highlighted the opposition’s intent to reclaim lost territories, threatening vulnerable populations.
Regina Lynch, executive president of ACN International, called for prayers in the statement, urging, “Let us pray for peace, the protection of the vulnerable, and a swift end to the violence that has brought so much suffering to a nation already ravaged by over a decade of conflict.”
