What to know about the rebel gains in Syria’s 13-year war [Video]

WASHINGTON –

The 13-year civil war in Syria has roared back into prominence with a surprise rebel offensive that captured Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities and an ancient hub of Middle East culture and commerce. The push is the rebels’ strongest in years in a war whose destabilizing effects have rippled far beyond the country’s borders.

It was the first opposition attack on Aleppo since 2016, when a brutal Russian air campaign retook the northwestern city for Syrian President Bashar Assad after rebel forces had seized it. Intervention by Russia, Iran and Iranian-allied Hezbollah and other groups has allowed Assad to remain in power within the 70 per cent of Syria under his control.

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Insurgents led by the jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched the two-pronged attack on Aleppo last week and moved into the countryside …