Casualties have been reported in Aleppo a day after the Syrian army reclaimed the city. Meanwhile, experts have warned that the battle for Aleppo has left other areas more vulnerable to Islamic State aggression.
Image: Reuters/O. Sanadiki
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Three civilians were reportedly killed Friday as Syrian rebel forces launched the first wave of rocket fire into Aleppo on Friday, just a day after insurgents finished withdrawing from the last rebel-held pocket of the city.
Ten rockets hit the southern district of Al-Hamdaniyeh, wounding nearly a dozen people.
On Thursday, 35,000 civilians and fighters were bussed out of the city following a landmark evacuation agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey. The deal effectively handed control of Aleppo over to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime.
The Syrian military's recapture of the country's largest city and former commercial hub, made possible by military support from Russia and Iran, marked Assad's most significant victory in the nearly six-year civil war.
Friday's offensive is unlikely to be the last, as rebel forces still control much of the territory along the western and southern outskirts of Aleppo, as well as other large areas of the country.
Investigating Aleppo's abandoned neighborhoods
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Friday reported that the Syrian army and its allies began searching the abandoned districts of the city, clearing explosives and other traps left behind by rebels.
Syrian television also broadcast footage of troops seizing crates piled with ammunition, rifles and at least one Russian-made grenade launcher stored in a school basement in the neighborhood of Zaydiyeh.
Syrian officials also reported alleged "criminal acts" carried out by rebels before they fled eastern Aleppo. These include reports that rebels had killed dozens of prisoners before evacuating the city. Rebels have strongly denied these accusations.
'IS' also make gains
Experts warned Friday that the Syrian regime's all-out assault on Aleppo enabled the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) jihadist group to recapture territory elsewhere, including the historic Syrian city of Palmyra.
Charles Lister of the US think-tank Middle East Institute told news agency AFP that the " resources deployed (by Damascus and its allies) to retake Aleppo have allowed IS to claim a series of opportunistic victories" in Syria.
Jonathan Mautner of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on the think-tank's blog that "Russia and Syria prioritized the defeat of the opposition in Aleppo city over the defense of Palmyra from IS, ultimately enhancing the threat posed by Salafi-jihadist groups in both northern and eastern Syria."
The recapture of Palmyra, which IS reclaimed on December 11 after losing it in March, highlighted "the inability of pro-regime forces to establish security across the entire country without sustained support from Russia and Iran, notwithstanding their recent success in Aleppo city," Mautner said.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Souleiman
Despite its recent gains, IS still only controls half the area it seized in Syria and Iraq in 2014.
However, some officials expect Moscow to only support the Assad regime in recapturing the "useful" territories, leaving the fight against other IS-occupied areas to the West.
The biggest challenge, however, remains the recapture of Raqqa, the jihadists' Syrian "capital." From there they have orchestrated terror attacks on Europe and Arab countries. The Syrian Democratic Forces, an Arab-Kurdish alliance backed by the US, launched an offensive to take the base in early November, but has yet to capture it.
dm/kms (AFP, AP, Reuters)
How the Syrian civil war began - and gave 'Islamic State' room to grow
Although the emergence of "IS" prompted international intervention in Syria, the jihadist group entered the conflict late in the game. DW examines how the war created space for this terrorist group to expand.
Image: AP
The "Arab Spring" effect
In 2011, as regimes crumble across the region, tens of thousands of Syrians take to the streets to protest against corruption, high unemployment and soaring food prices. The Syrian government responds with live ammunition, claiming some 400 lives by May.
Image: dapd
Condemnation without consensus
At the urging of Western countries, the UN Security Council condemns the violent crackdown. The EU and US implement an arms embargo, visa bans and asset freezes in the months that follow. With the backing of the Arab League, calls eventually grow for the Syrian president's departure. But not all UN members agree with this demand.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Szenes
Assad refuses to back down
Bashar al-Assad - who has been in power since the death of his father in 2000 - sees his reputation wane with the continuing unrest. He refuses to end decades-long emergency rule, which allows for surveillance and interrogation. Russia backs its ally, supplying weapons and vetoing UN resolutions on Syria multiple times.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Badawi
The opposition gets organized
By the end of the year, human rights groups and the UN have evidence of human rights abuses. Civilians and military deserters are slowly beginning to organize themselves to fight back against government forces, which have been targeting dissidents. More than 5,000 have died so far in the fighting. It will take another six months before the UN acknowledges that a war is taking place on Syrian soil.
Image: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Outside intervention
In September 2012, Iran confirms that it has fighters on the ground in Syria - a fact long denied by Damascus. The presence of allied troops underscores the hesitance of the US and other Western powers to intervene in the conflict. The US, stung by failed interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, sees dialogue as the only reasonable solution.
Image: AP
Fleeing the conflict
As the death toll nears 100,000, the number of refugees in neighboring countries - such as Turkey and Jordan - hits one million. That number will double by September 2013. The West and the Arab League have seen all attempts at a transitional government fail in the two years of war, watching as fighting spills over into Turkey and Lebanon. They fear Assad will stay in power by any means possible.
Image: Reuters/B. Khabieh
No united front against Assad
Assad has long claimed he's combatting terrorists. But it's not until the second year of war that the fragmented Free Syrian Army is definitely known to include radical extremists. The group Al-Nusra Front pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, further splintering the opposition.
Image: Reuters/A. Abdullah
From brute force to chemical warfare
In June 2013, the White House says it has evidence that Assad has been using sarin nerve gas on civilians - a report later backed by the UN. The discovery pushes US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders toward considering the use of military force. However, Russia's proposal to remove the chemical weapons ultimately wins out.
Image: Reuters
Islamic State emerges
Reports of a new jihadist group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) emerge in the final weeks of 2013. Taking land in northern Syria and Iraq, the group sparks infighting among the opposition, with some 500 dead by early 2014. The unexpected emergence of IS ultimately draws the US, France, Saudi Arabia and other nations into the war.
