Syrian rebels push into Damascus: Bashar al-Assad nowhere to be seen as his soldiers flee into Iraq and opposition fighters reach capital citys suburbs
Syrian opposition fighters have reached the suburbs of the Damascus capital for the first time since the region was recaptured by government troops in 2018, as president Bashar al-Assads regime nears collapse.
Syrian opposition fighters have reached the suburbs of the Damascus capital for the first time since the region was recaptured by government troops in 2018, as president Bashar al-Assads regime nears collapse.
One resident said the city was on edge, with security forces on the streets and many shops running out of staple foods.
The Syrian army withdrew from much of the countrys south on Saturday but later said it was fortifying positions in the Damascus suburbs and in the south.
Syrias state news agency denied reports that Assad had already fled to Russia claiming he continued to govern from Damascus.
However, following the statement claiming it was false news, a source has told CNN that Assad was nowhere to be found at his usual residences in the capital.
Lebanon said it is closing all its land border crossings with Syria except for a main one that links Beirut with Damascus. Jordan closed a border crossing with Syria because of the security situation on the Syrian side.
The rapidly developing events in Syria have again put the region on edge.
Government forces reportedly withdrew as rebel groups amassed in the citys suburbs, wrestling for control after more than a week of intensified fighting.
A giant portrait of Syrian president Bashar Assad sets on a building, as empty streets seen in Damascus, Syria
A military vehicle belonging to the Syrian regime forces and seized by anti government forces burn after it was hit by regime forces in the Hama governorate
A military vehicle belonging to the Syrian regime forces is pictured abandoned on the side of a road in the Hama governorate, on December 7
People ride a tank in the Syrian southern city of Daraa on December 7
A government armoured vehicle burns as rebels ride along the road south of Hama, in the south of Syria
Anti-regime armed rebels fire their weapons into the air in victory after capturing Hama
The fall of Bashar al-Assads routine appeals all but assured (pictured: rebels ride past a damaged government vehicle in Hama)
Armed groups reached the suburb of Darayya this afternoon, some five miles from the centre, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency.
Our forces have begun the final phase of encircling the capital, Damascus, said rebel commander Hassan Abdel Ghani today, with the Islamist-led alliance that launched the offensive 10 days ago.
Damascus awaits you, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, said in a statement Saturday addressed to rebel fighters on Telegram.
Syrians still in the nominally government-controlled territory of Jaramana seized the opportunity to pull down a statue of Assads father as the regime faces collapse.
To the north, rebel troops made a lunge towards the strategic city of Homs, just days after they proclaimed a major victory in the taking of the city of Hama on Thursday.
The staggering assault has seen rebels opposed to the regime make the fastest battlefield advance by either side since the civil war began almost 13 years ago.
Assads office said today that the President was staying put in the capital and continuing his duties after his children and British-born wife fled to Russia last week, and his brothers-in-law allegedly travelled to the UAE, per Syrian security officials.
Assads allies in Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, distracted or worn-down by other conflicts, meanwhile showed no signs of intervening.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told CNN that Turkey wishes that neighboring Syria can quickly attain the peace and tranquility it has longed for during 13 years of civil conflict.
He said: I want to say this openly: We do not have our eyes on land — not even a pebble — that belongs to another country.
Local residents celebrate after opposition forces led by HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham) took control of Hama city center and surrounding villages on December 6
Rebel forces pressing a lightning offensive in Syria aim to overthrow President Bashar al-Assads rule, their Islamist leader said in an interview published on December 6
Russian president Vladimir Putin meets with Assad at the Kremlin in Moscow in July
Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrias President Bashar al-Assad, casts her vote during the countrys presidential elections in Douma, Syria, with her husband in this file photo taken in 2021
People in Damascus topple a statue of Hafez al-Assad and wave a Druze flag as rebel forces approach the capital, on December 7
Charles Lister, director of the Syria and countering terrorism and extremism programs at the Middle East Institute, told Bloomberg that Assads future has never looked more fragile as the opposition encroaches on Homs and allied support withers.
While capturing Homs could close the land route between the government and Tartus, home to Russias only Mediterranean port, Russia appears not to be in a position to help Assad regain ground with focus and resources directed to Ukraine.
Russia doesnt have a plan to save Assad and doesnt see one emerging as long as the Syrian presidents army continues to abandon its positions, a source close to the Kremlin told Bloomberg.
Iran, likewise, has been hesitant, or unable, to funnel its support to Syria. On Friday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he would would only help Assad to the extent necessary, but previously promised to consider sending troops.
The capture of Hama has given rebel forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), control of a strategic central city they never managed to seize before.
Homs is the next target for the rebels, deemed crucial for Assads hopes of staying in power.
Assad now cannot afford to lose anything else. The big battle is the one coming against Homs. If Homs falls, we are talking of a potential change of regime, Jihad Yazigi, editor of the Syria Report newsletter, told Reuters.
It follows a staggering effort to seize Aleppo, the main northern city in Syria, last week as part of a blitz offensive beginning on November 27.
The collapse of Syrian government control in the north has sharply illustrated a shift in the balance of power since Lebanons Hezbollah group, a lynchpin of Assads forces, suffered catastrophic losses in its war with Israel.
While Hezbollah has reportedly sent 2,000 fighters to Syria, per a source close to the Iran-backed proxy group today, Assads backing from allies continues to wither.
Rebel forces were just 12 miles (20km) from Damascus by 11am GMT on Saturday, posing an imminent threat to the capital, according to a war monitor and rebels.
The Syrian army reportedly withdrew its forces from all towns about 10km (6.2 miles) from the capital, a monitor reported soon after.
The Syrian defence ministry, loyal to Assad, denied the army had fled positions.
There is no truth to news claiming our armed forces, present in all areas of the Damascus countryside, have withdrawn, it said.
The Syrian government was also forced to evacuate from its positions in Quneitrea, near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, the main ally of the US against the regime, meanwhile seized key areas in Deir ez Zor and Raqqa on December 6, making it harder for Iran to move forces in to help Assad or resupply Iranian-backed forces like Hezbollah.
Reported battlefield advances as of Friday, December 6. Claims are quickly changing
In little over a week, the offensive has seen Syrias second city Aleppo and strategically located Hama fall from Assads control for the first time since the civil war began in 2011
Assads office said today that the President was staying put in the capital and continuing his duties after his children and British-born wife fled to Russia last week (pictured together 2021)
Bashar al-Assad (L) with his wife Asma al-Assad arrive at New Delhi International airport, India, 17 June 2008
A member of the Syrian opposition stands at an entrance to the Hama governorate on the Damascus-Aleppo International Highway, December 3
Video shared on social media by reporters claimed to show regime forces routing on foot from the town of Zakiah, a mere 16 miles (25.7km) from Damascus.
President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly returned to the capital to continue carrying out duties, officials said today following reports he had left.
Meanwhile, Syrians in Jaramana - a suburb of the capital - tore down a statue of Bashar al-Assads father, Hafez, as some waved the flag of the Druze.
The suburb is still nominally controlled by the Assad regime at the time of writing, and it did not appear to be militant rebel groups (who are still several miles from Jaramana and Damascus) pulling down the statue, contrary to other reports.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that local rebel fighters now also controlled all of Daraa province.
Rebel commander Hassan Abdel Ghani, with the Islamist-led alliance that launched the offensive in the countrys northwest, said we are now less than 20 km from the southern gate of the capital Damascus.
The advance towards the capital continues, he added.
A truck pulls the head of another toppled statue of late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad through the streets of the city of Hama on December 6
An aerial picture shows a car driving past Syrian army military equipment and vehicles that were abandoned on the highway to Damascus, near the town of Suran, on December 3, 2024
Syria s British-born first lady, Asma al-Assad (pictured, file photo), has been diagnosed with leukemia, the Syrian presidency said on Tuesday. The announcement came almost five years after the 48-year-old announced she had fully recovered from breast cancer
Israels military now assesses that the rebels pose a direct threat to Assads rule.
While a weakened Assad regime plays to Israels interests, there remains debate around sending troops in - amid an ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza and clashes with Iran - and anxiety around helping Sunni jihadists once aligned with al-Qaeda.
The IDF announced on Saturday afternoon that an attack had been carried out by armed individuals at a UN post in the Hader area of Syria.
It said it was assisting UN forces in repelling the attack and would continue to operate in the Golan Heights in order to protect Israel and its citizens.
Assadist forces have been backed by intense Russian airstrikes, but rebels continue to push through Assads lines.
Since Russia does not share a land border with Syria, it also depends on Turkeys goodwill to allow warships to pass through the Bosporus.
While Turkey and Russia were able to work together to broker a truce in May 2020, Turkish forces have backed opposition groups in an effort to displace ISIS.
For Russia, Syria represents a strategic stronghold key to its efforts to project power in the Middle East.
The loss of influence would be devastating for Russia, Nicole Grajewski, fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Wall Street Journal.
To see Russian planes leave Syria as rebel forces move onward towards their air bases, and their assets in Damascus fall, this would be so devastating for the Russian image of itself, she said.
Anti-government fighters patrol the streets of Hama after they captured the central Syrian city, on December 6
Israeli soldiers sit atop an armoured vehicle near the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria Saturday December 7, 2024
National Syrian Army soldiers celebrate in the city after opposition forces led by HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham) took control of Hama city center and surrounding villages on December 6
It would be akin to a Saigon moment for them, she added.
Ukrainian intelligence has assessed that Russian forces have suffered significant losses, with some units of the aggressor state surrounded.
Hundreds of Moscow troops are listed as missing in Syria, it reported.
Rebel groups were rumoured to have received operational training from Ukrainian special forces, learning from tactics developed during the war in Ukraine, the Kyiv Post reported.
Assad relied heavily on Russian and Iranian backing during the most intense years of the conflict, helping him to claw back most territory and Syrias biggest cities before front lines froze in 2020.
But Russia has been focused on the war in Ukraine since 2022, and many in the top leadership of Hezbollah, the most powerful Iran-aligned force, were killed by Israel over the past two months.
Iran, meanwhile, has seen its proxies across the region degraded by Israeli airstrikes.
And Syrian troops are exhausted and hollowed out by 13 years of war and economic crises, with little will left to fight.
The coming days and weeks will be critical in determining whether the rebel offensive poses an existential threat to the Assad regime or whether the regime manages to regain its footing and push back on recent rebel gains, said Mona Yacoubian, an analyst with the United States Institute for Peace, as reported the Associated Press.
While weakened and distracted, Assads allies are unlikely to simply cave to the rebels offensive, she wrote in an analysis.
National Syrian Army soldiers celebrate in the city after opposition forces led by HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham) took control of Hama city center and surrounding villages on December 6
A view of a military airport seized by anti-regime groups in Hama, on December 6
National Syrian Army soldiers celebrate in the city after opposition forces led by HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham) took control of Hama city center and surrounding villages on December 6
Abu Mohammed al-Golani (AKA Abu Mohammad al-Julani), the main insurgent commander, has vowed to protect Syrias religious minorities as HTS makes gains.
In public remarks clearly intended to soften his image and reassure foreign countries, Golani has also emphasised his split years ago with Al Qaeda and Islamic State, and said he has always opposed attacks outside Syria.
HTS and the other rebel groups are trying to consolidate their rule in Aleppo, bringing it under the administration of the so-called Salvation Government they established in their northwestern enclave.
The Institute for the Study of War assessed support to the Assad regime will almost certainly fail to stop the opposition offensive at this time unless ground forces are deployed rapidly and in larger numbers.
