Two rebel groups are leading the push. One is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( HTS ), which emerged from al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. It cut ties with the jihadist group in 2017 and has since set up a provisional government in rebel-held Idlib province in north-west Syria. The other faction, the Syrian National Army ( SNA ), is a Turkish proxy.

Islamist rebels in Syria are taking the fight to the Assad regime. According to activists, Shiite militants have begun arriving in eastern Syria to fight alongside government troops battling rebels who drove Assad's forces out of Aleppo last week and took control of the city.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a reignited Syrian civil war, mass protests over Georgia ’s suspended European Union accession bid, and U.S. export restrictions on China ’s semiconductor industry.