Russian and Syrian warplanes conducted intense airstrikes on a suburb of Aleppo on Saturday after a major offensive by jihadi insurgents led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured significant parts of Syria’s second-largest city.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the rebel alliance, spearheaded by HTS, penetrated deep into Aleppo in a surprise operation that began earlier this week. According to the Observatory, 301 people have been killed in the recent fighting, including 28 civilians.

In response to the insurgent advance, Syria’s military confirmed a "temporary troop withdrawal" from much of Aleppo to regroup and prepare a counteroffensive. A military statement acknowledged that "armed terrorist organizations" had taken control of large portions of the city and its surrounding areas.

The United Nations estimates that the ongoing violence has forced approximately 14,000 residents to flee their homes in recent days. Meanwhile, neighboring towns and villages have also come under heavy airstrikes from Russian and Syrian forces.

Observers reported that the rebels met minimal resistance during their advance into Aleppo, with regime forces retreating to the city’s suburbs without engaging in significant combat. "There has been no fighting, not a single shot was fired, as regime forces withdrew," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The rebels, primarily HTS fighters, claim their offensive is a retaliation for recent government artillery shelling that targeted civilian areas. HTS, which emerged as al-Qaeda's former branch in Syria, controls large swaths of the Idlib region and parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces.

This escalation follows a period of relative containment in Syria’s civil war. President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, with backing from Russia and Iran, have regained control of roughly two-thirds of the country in recent years, leaving Idlib and its surroundings as the last significant rebel strongholds.

The renewed violence underscores the fragility of Syria’s long-standing conflict, which began in 2011 with a government crackdown on pro-democracy protests and evolved into a complex war involving various factions and foreign powers.