Iraqi militias enter Syria to reinforce govt forces

AMMAN/BEIRUT: Hundreds of fighters from Iran-backed Iraqi militias crossed into Syria overnight to help the government fight rebels who seized Aleppo last week, Syrian and Iraqi sources said on Monday, and Tehran pledged to aid the Damascus government.

At least 300 fighters, primarily from the Badr and Nujabaa groups, crossed late on Sunday using a dirt road to avoid the official border crossing, two Iraqi security sources said.

“These are fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the front lines in the north,” a senior Syrian military source said, adding the fighters had crossed in small groups to avoid airstrikes.

Iran’s constellation of allied regional militia groups has long been integral to the success of pro-government forces in subduing rebels who rose up against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, and they have long maintained bases in Syria.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday Syria’s military was capable of confronting the rebels but, referring to the regional militia groups Tehran backs, he added that “resistance groups will help and Iran will provide any support needed”.

Syrian government and Russian warplanes intensified attacks on Monday in areas held by rebels in the northwest, residents and rescue workers said, including a strike on a displaced people’s camp that killed seven.

The lightning rebel assault last week caught many in the region unaware, dealing Assad his biggest blow in years and reigniting a conflict that had appeared frozen for years after civil war front lines stabilised in 2020.

Although Russia has been focused on the war in Ukraine since 2022, it retains an air base in northern Syria. The main Iran-backed group, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, has been focused on its own war with Israel since the Gaza conflict began last year.

Syria’s conflict erupted in a rebellion against Assad’s rule in 2011 and the rebels held much of Aleppo from 2012 until 2016, when government forces retook it with help from Russia and Iran-backed militia in a major turning point of the war.

Any prolonged escalation in Syria risks further destabilising a region already roiled by the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, with millions of Syrians already displaced and with regional and global powers backing rival forces in the country. The rebels include mainstream groups backed by Turkey, as well as the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which was formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda.