Rebels Make Surprise Advances in Syria. Who are They and What Does it Mean? : State of the World from NPR

Syrian opposition fighters ride on a motorcycle past Syrian army planes at the Al-Nayrab military airport after they took control of the facility in the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria on Monday.

Omar Albam/AP

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Omar Albam/AP

Syrian opposition fighters ride on a motorcycle past Syrian army planes at the Al-Nayrab military airport after they took control of the facility in the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria on Monday.

Omar Albam/AP

Syria’s bloody civil war against the government of Bashar al-Assad started in 2011 but it had been in a stalemate for years. All that changed recently when rebels lead by a group called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rapidly routed government forces seizing the second most populous Syria city, Aleppo. We hear reaction from Syrians and about the group behind the revival of the conflict.

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