Good morning. Eight years ago, indiscriminate Russian airstrikes helped Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad’s forces drive rebels from Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city. Assad’s victory in Aleppo, once a symbolic stronghold of the Syrian rebellion, relied on a brutal “surrender or starve” strategy that killed thousands of civilians and forced many more to flee. It was seen as a turning point in the country’s civil war, which has largely been in a state of stalemate since 2020.
But over the weekend, a stunning rebel offensive seized Aleppo again – leaving the Assad regime facing the greatest threat to its control in years. Yesterday, Syrian and Russian airstrikes pummeled opposition controlled areas in response. Whatever happens next, if the frozen conflict in Syria has become a “forgotten war” as attention has focused on Gaza and Ukraine, it will now be impossible to ignore.
