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