The lightning advance by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham abruptly redrew the front lines of Syria’s civil war for the first time in years.

Insurgents breached Syria’s largest city Friday and clashed with government forces for the first time since 2016, according to a war monitor and fighters, in a surprise attack that sent residents fleeing and added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars.

Syrian opposition fighters on Friday entered some areas inside Syria's second-largest city of Aleppo for the first time in years, activists and rebels said. "The rebels have entered areas inside the city of Aleppo for the first time since 2016,