Syrian rebels take control of half of Aleppo, observers say

Rebel forces in Syria have taken control of “half” of the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo, according to the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

SOHR said 277 people – including more than 20 civilians – have been killed since the offensive started on Wednesday.

The offensive is the largest against the Syrian government in years and the first time rebels fighting the forces of President Bashar al-Assad have reached Aleppo since being forced out by the army in 2016.

Aleppo’s airport and all roads leading into the city have been closed, military sources told Reuters news agency.

The rebels were able to capture “half of Aleppo” without meeting significant resistance, SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP news agency early on Saturday.

There “has been no fighting, not a single shot was fired, as regime forces withdrew”, he added.

Earlier on Friday, government forces said they had regained positions in a number of towns in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, following the offensive launched by HTS and allied factions on Wednesday.

Video posted on a channel affiliated with the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) appears to show rebel fighters in vehicles inside the city.

BBC Verify has geolocated the footage to a western suburb of Aleppo.

More than half a million people have been killed in the civil war that erupted after the government cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011.

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An array of armed groups opposed to the Assad government – including jihadists – took advantage of the turmoil to seize swathes of territory.

The Syrian government – with help from Russia and other allies – later retook most the areas it had lost.

Idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold, is mostly controlled by HTS, but Turkish-backed rebel factions and Turkish forces are also based there.

Syrian and Russian planes carried out 23 air strikes near Idlib on Friday, according to SOHR.

The UK-based monitoring group, which uses a network of sources on the ground in Syria, said four civilians were killed and 19 others were injured in the Russian strikes.

Russia’s military said it had bombed “extremist forces”, according to Russian news agencies.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed his support for “the government of Syria to quickly restore order” and said the country’s sovereignty was under attack.

On Friday, a statement posted on a rebel-affiliated channel said: “Our forces have begun entering the city of Aleppo.”

Videos verified by the BBC show armed men running in a street about seven kilometres (4.3 miles) from Aleppo’s medieval citadel in the centre of the city.

Another clip verified by the BBC showed large groups of people carrying luggage walking away from an area near Aleppo University. That video was recorded 3km away from a location where HTS-affiliated media claim rebel forces have entered the city.

Aleppo resident Sarmad told AFP he could hear “the sounds of missiles and artillery shelling around the clock”.

“We’re scared that war will break out and we’ll be displaced from our homes again,” the 51-year-old said.

The UN’s deputy regional humanitarian co-ordinator for Syria, David Carden, said he was deeply alarmed by the impact of the escalating hostilities on civilians.

“Relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 civilians, including children as young as eight years old”, he said.

Fighting in Idlib had largely wound down since 2020, when Turkey and Russia, Syria’s key ally, brokered a ceasefire to halt a push by the government to retake the province.

But on Wednesday HTS and its allies said they had launched their offensive to “deter aggression”, accusing the government and allied militias of escalation in the region.

It came as the Syrian government and its allies were preoccupied with other conflicts.

In neighbouring Lebanon, an Israeli military campaign has devastated the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, whose fighters helped turned the tide of the Syrian civil war.

Israel has also stepped up its air strikes inside Syria on targets linked to Iran and Iran-backed groups.

Syrian rebels take control of half of Aleppo, observers say

Over 2,000 Russian troops killed in last 24hrs – Ukraine’s military

In a significant escalation, Ukraine’s military reported that Russia lost over 2,000 troops in the past 24 hours, marking the highest daily toll since the conflict began.

According to Reuters, Ukraine’s General Staff disclosed these figures during its regular morning update on Friday, noting that over 300 pieces of Russian weaponry and military equipment were also destroyed. However, the numbers have not been independently verified.

The announcement comes as Russian forces push to capture as much Ukrainian territory as possible ahead of the anticipated return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, with both sides expecting Washington to advocate for ceasefire discussions in early 2025.

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Despite suffering significant casualties, Russia’s military has made substantial territorial gains over the past month, advancing westward at a pace not seen since the initial stages of the 2022 invasion. The area taken during this period is said to be half the size of London.

The General Staff’s report stated that it could not independently verify the loss figures, as assessing battlefield casualties remains notoriously challenging. This number surpasses the 1,950 Russian troops reported by Ukraine on November 12.

Meanwhile, Russia’s eastern offensive continues, with over 100 attacks launched against critical positions in Pokrovsk and Kurakhove. In response to Ukraine’s use of Western long-range missiles on Russian territory, Moscow has intensified its air strikes. Ukraine reported successfully downing 88 out of 132 drones launched by Russia overnight.

On Thursday, Moscow also launched a significant attack targeting Ukraine’s power infrastructure, leading to widespread blackouts across the nation.

Over 2,000 Russian troops killed in last 24hrs – Ukraine’s military

Australia bans under-16 from social media platforms

Australia yesterday announced a ban on children aged 16 and below from social media use.

The country’s parliament passed world’s first law banning under-16s despite safety concerns.

The bill was passed amid warning that the process had been rushed and that a ban could push teenagers towards the dark web or into isolation.

Australia’s parliament passed a law that will aim to do what no other government has and many parents have tried to stop children from using social media.

The new law was drafted in response to what the Labor Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, described as a “clear, causal link between the rise of social media and the harm [to] the mental health of young Australians”.

Yesterday, the parliament’s upper house – Senate, passed a Bill by 34 votes to 19 banning children under 16 from social media platforms.

But academics, politicians and advocacy groups warned that the ban – as envisioned by the government – could backfire, driving teenagers to the dark web, or making them feel more isolated.

There have been questions about how the ban will be effective.

Many worry that the process has been too rushed, and that, if users are asked to prove their age, it could lead to social media companies being handed valuable personal data. Even Elon Musk has weighed in.

The online safety amendment (social media minimum age) bill bans social media platforms from allowing users under 16 to access their services, threatening companies with fines of up to AU$50m (US$32m) if they fail to comply.

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However, it contains no details about how it will work, only that the companies will be expected to take reasonable steps to ensure users are aged 16 or over. The detail will come later, through the completion of a trial of age-assurance technology in mid-2025.

The bill will not come into force for another 12 months.

It was also silent on which companies the legislation would apply, though Communications Minister, Michelle Rowland, said that Snapchat, TikTok, X, Instagram, Reddit and Facebook are likely to be part of the ban.

YouTube will not be included because of its “significant” educational purpose, she said.

The bill was introduced to parliament last week, with just three sitting days left on the parliamentary calendar. It received 15,000 submissions in a day.

Among these was one from Amnesty International recommending that the bill not be passed because a “ban that isolates young people will not meet the government’s objective of improving young people’s lives”.

The number of responses increased dramatically, the Australian broadcaster ABC reported, after X owner Musk reposted a tweet by Albanese announcing that the bill would be introduced that day, writing, “Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the internet by all Australians.”

Most of the submissions were a form response, the ABC reported, with fewer than 100 submissions made by interest groups.

Australia bans under-16 from social media platforms