Who are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group leading the anti-Assad offensive, and what are their ties to Al Qaeda or other outside forces? “They [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] are still obviously bad guys in the sense that they’re radicals,

Two rebel groups are leading the push. One is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( HTS ), which emerged from al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. It cut ties with the jihadist group in 2017 and has since set up a provisional government in rebel-held Idlib province in north-west Syria. The other faction, the Syrian National Army ( SNA ), is a Turkish proxy.

As the anti-Assad rebel forces’ surprise counteroffensive against regime forces stretches into its fifth day, Russia and Syria have stepped up their aerial bombardment campaign to slow it down. Adding to the challenge,

Rebels in Syria took control of the Nayrab Military Airport in Aleppo, Al Jazeera reported, citing opposition officials on December 2.Footage from local news outlet Shaam Network shows abandoned military planes and a helicopter at the base.

Images shared on social media have illustrated the anger that Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad feel toward his ally Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader has been indispensable in propping up Assad's regime during the brutal Syrian civil war that started in 2011 but has been essentially frozen over the last four years.

The recent rapid advance by opposition fighters in Syria shows that Syrian President Bashar Assad must reconcile with his own people and hold dialogue with the opposition, the Turkish foreign minister said Monday.