Syrian rebel forces said they were advancing on the capital Damascus, after capturing four more cities in the past 24 hours, as the rebel advance continued under threat from President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power.
On Sunday morning local time, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, said on the Telegram messaging app that rebel forces entered Damascus and reached the Sednaya prison, a government facility it described as a “human slaughterhouse.” Amnesty International human rights group.
“Our forces have begun to enter the capital Damascus,” the group said in a message. In a follow-up statement, the group said it was “the end of an era of injustice in Sednaia prison”.
Earlier, the group said it had taken control of the city of Homs, in the north-central part of the country, on Saturday.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani released a video saying government forces there had withdrawn without a fight, and the rebel group later released a statement saying, “Our eyes are watching the capital, Damascus.”
Anti-government forces walk past an overturned Syrian regime military vehicle on the road after rebels seized control of central Hama governorate on December 7, 2024.
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images
Rebel group lighting progress
Overall, rebel groups claimed to have captured three more Syrian cities in the past day – including Daraa, Queinetra and Sweida – in a rapid advance by opposition fighters, largely with little resistance from government forces.
Throughout the day Saturday, as rebel forces moved in, the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern Syria, leaving more areas of the country, including two provincial capitals, under rebel control, according to the military and the opposition. war monitor
In a statement released earlier Saturday, the Syrian government denied that Assad had fled the country, calling media reports to the contrary “rumors and fake news.”
US intelligence was preparing Assad’s front line to fall under the influence of the rebel press, and the US said Assad’s family had left the country for Moscow.
Armed rebels celebrate their advances in Hama, Syria on December 6, 2024 by firing shots into the air. HTS-led rebels have stepped up their offensive, taking control of key areas in Aleppo and Hama and pushing further towards Homs, causing widespread displacement and increased instability in west-central Syria.
Bilal Alhammoud/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty
Earlier this week, government forces withdrew from Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, which lies between the capital Damascus in the south and Aleppo — Syria’s second city — in the north.
Aleppo fell to the rebels’ lightning offensive on November 29. Hama was one of the few major cities that did not fall to anti-government forces following the successful 2011 revolution against Assad’s rule.
Who are the Syrian rebels?
The rebel offensive is being waged by HTS and a collection of Turkish-backed Syrian militias known as the Syrian National Army.
HTS, which has its roots in Al-Qaida, is considered a terrorist organization by the US
However, in recent years, the group has said it has cut ties with al-Qaida and tried to rebuild itself by focusing on promoting civilian rule and military action, according to The Associated Press.
If Assad flees the country and HTS gains control of Syrian government institutions, we do not know how they will seek to govern.
“Are they going to go back to that when it was affiliated with al-Qaida?” said Javed Ali, an associate professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, in an appearance on ABC News Live. “Or it will look more like the Afghan Taliban, Islamist, conservative, but not, for the most part, intent on threatening neighbors or using their country as a launching pad for attacks against the West.”
What officials say about the situation in Syria
Ali called it a “catastrophic loss” for Iran, which has long supported the Assad regime, and a “black mark” for the Russian government, which has also backed Assad.
Citing media reports, both countries appear to have pulled advisers and equipment out of the country, Ali said.
“If these withdrawals continue, both on the Iranian side and on the Russian side, essentially only the Syrian army and security forces remain,” he said. “And as we saw in Afghanistan in 2021, they probably won’t be able to hold their own against HTS and all the other rebel groups on the outskirts of Damascus.”
President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on developments in the Syrian civil war on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday and said the US should stay out of the issue.
A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in a broken frame at the Syrian regime’s Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama after anti-government forces seized the area on December 7, 2024.
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images
“Syria is a mess, but it is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET THEM PLAY DO NOT PARTICIPATE!” Trump posted.
In the post, Trump noted that Russia, which has long supported the Assad regime, is “tied up in Ukraine” and apparently cannot intervene in Syria. Trump said ousting Assad “may be the best thing that could happen” to the Russian government.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on the rebel offensive in Syria, saying that Russia would oppose it “in every possible way”, but Russia will “actively promote the need to resume dialogue with the opposition”, that is, between the government and the government. the rebels
