Syrian Opposition Says Thwarts Regime Infiltration Attempt in Aleppo Countryside

Syrian opposition fighters in the Aleppo countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Syrian opposition fighters in the Aleppo countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20

Syrian Opposition Says Thwarts Regime Infiltration Attempt in Aleppo Countryside

Syrian opposition fighters in the Aleppo countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Syrian opposition fighters in the Aleppo countryside. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Syrian opposition announced on Sunday that it had thwarted an attempt by the regime and Iranian militias to infiltrate areas of its influence in the Aleppo countryside.

The opposition also announced that it had carried out a surprise attack in the Latakia countryside, killing a member of the regime forces and wounding dozens of others.

Opposition activists said the armed factions thwarted the infiltration in the western Aleppo countryside amid fierce clashes and heavy artillery fire. Tanks and rocket launchers were used in the fighting that left eleven people dead and wounded from the regime.

The regime continued its shelling of the area. No reports of casualties among civilians were reported.

In Latakia, a leading opposition faction member said they launched a surprise attack in the al-Bayda region in the eastern part of the province.

Three military positions were destroyed and at least 20 regime forces members were killed and wounded.

The opposition figure said the operation was launched in retaliation to regime violations in civilian areas and its failed attempts at infiltrating opposition-held regions in northwestern Syria.

He revealed that three infiltration attempts were thwarted last month alone.

The attempts took place in Atarib city in the western Aleppo countryside, Jabal al-Zawiya in southern Idlib and Jabal al-Turkman and al-Akrad in the eastern Latakia countryside.

The infiltrations were carried out by the regime and allied Iranian and Afghan militias.

The developments took place as opposition factions were on high alert and as they reinforced their military positions along the contact lines with the regime in Idlib and Aleppo.

Fears have been high that the regime was preparing to launch a new military offensive, taking advantage of Türkiye’s recent attacks against the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces.



France Expels 12 Algerian Officials in Tit-for-Tat Move amid Diplomatic Tensions

Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
TT
20

France Expels 12 Algerian Officials in Tit-for-Tat Move amid Diplomatic Tensions

Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)

France said Tuesday it was expelling 12 Algerian diplomatic officials a day after Algeria announced the expulsion of the same number of French officials in escalating tensions between the two countries.

Algeria said Monday that its expulsion of 12 French officials was over the arrest of an Algerian consular official by French authorities in a kidnapping case, but relations between the two sides have been deteriorating since last summer. That's when France shifted its position to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara — a disputed territory claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front, which receives support from Algeria.

Tensions further peaked in November after Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who is an outspoken critic of the Algerian regime. He has since been sentenced to five years in prison — a verdict he subsequently appealed.

In addition to what French officials called the "symmetrically" calibrated expulsion of 12 Algerian officials, France's ambassador to Algiers also was being recalled home for consultations, a statement from the French presidential palace said Tuesday.

It said Algerian authorities were responsible for "a brutal deterioration in our bilateral relations."

French counterterrorism prosecutors said three Algerian nationals in total were arrested last week and handed preliminary charges of "kidnapping or arbitrary detention … in connection with a terrorist undertaking."

The group is allegedly involved in the April 2024 kidnapping of an Algerian influencer, Amir Boukhors, or Amir DZ, a known critic of the Algerian government with 1.1 million followers on TikTok.

The latest surge in acrimony followed a brief easing of tensions about two weeks ago when French President Emmanuel Macron called Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune. French officials said they had agreed to revive bilateral relations.