Rebel offensive to force Syria onto Trump’s agenda
With just over a month before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Syria’s forgotten war has reignited.
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WASHINGTON — A week ago, Syria barely figured on President-elect Donald Trump’s list of foreign policy priorities. But a fast-moving rebel offensive in the war-torn country could force the issue on Trump’s desk come Jan. 20.
Opposition fighters led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have seized Syria’s second-biggest city, Aleppo, from President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and are continuing their lightning campaign southward. The fighters from HTS, a group once linked to al-Qaeda, entered Hama on Thursday, dealing another major blow to the Syrian army, which was forced to redeploy outside the strategic city. They are likely to next advance on Homs, once seen as the capital of the Syrian uprising.
The stunning rebel takeover poses the most serious threat to Assad’s autocratic rule in years, and it risks further fueling instability in a region reeling from wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
