Stunning march of the insurgents throughout Syria accelerated on Saturday with news that they had reached the gates of the capital and that government forces had left the central city of Homs. The government was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.
The loss of Homs was a potentially crippling blow to Assad. It stands at a key crossroads between Damascus, the capital, and the Syrian coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus – the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.
Pro-government news channel Sham FM reported that government forces had taken positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory Human rightssaid Syrian troops and members of several security forces withdrew from the city, adding that rebels entered parts of it.
The uprising announced later Saturday that it had taken over Homs. The capture of the city was a major victory for the rebels, who have already taken the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began on November 27. Analysts said rebel control of Homs would be a disaster. game changer.
The rebel movements around Damascus, reported by the Observer and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of the southern part of the country, putting more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters to stand.
For the first time in the country’s long civil war, the government now controls only three of the 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus.
The advances last week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that traces its roots to al-Qaeda and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and United Nations. In their quest to overthrow Assad’s government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS), have encountered little resistance from the Syrian army.
The rebels’ rapid victories, combined with the lack of support from Assad’s former allies, posed the most serious threat to his rule since the war began.
The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for urgent talks in Geneva on Saturday to ensure an “orderly political transition”. Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria is changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s main international backer, said he “pities the Syrian people.”
In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands headed to Syria’s border with Lebanon in an attempt to leave the country.
Many shops in the capital were closed, one resident told The Associated Press, and those that were still open had run out of basic products such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price.
“The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” said the resident, who insisted on anonymity and feared reprisals.
“People are worried about whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.”
It was the first time opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian forces retook the area after a years-long siege. The UN said it was moving non-critical personnel abroad as a precaution.
Syrian opposition fighters remove a Syrian government flag from an official building in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria Syria, Saturday, December 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Assad’s status
Syrian state media denied rumors on social media that Assad had left the country, saying he was carrying out his duties in Damascus.
He has had little or no help from his allies. Russia is busy with its war in Ukraine. Lebanese Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to bolster Assad’s forces, has been weakened by years of conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its allies across the region deteriorated by regular Israeli airstrikes.
Newly elected US President Donald Trump posted on social media on Saturday that the United States should avoid military activities in Syria. Separately, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said the Biden administration had no intention of intervening there.
Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation of a UN resolution adopted in 2015 calling for a Syrian-led political process would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional administration, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with UN-supervised elections.
Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, met with Pederson on the sidelines of the Doha summit to discuss the situation in Syria.
In a statement, participants reaffirmed their support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis “that would lead to the end of military activities and the protection of civilians.” They also agreed on the importance of strengthening international efforts to increase assistance to the Syrian people.
The march of the insurgents
Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters marched towards the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added.
An insurgent commander, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the messaging app Telegram that opposition forces had begun the “final phase” of their offensive by encircling Damascus.
HTS controls much of northwestern Syria and established a “rescue government” in 2017 to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has tried to reshape the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaeda, ousting hardline officials and promising to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance.
The shock offensive began on November 27, with gunmen capturing the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth largest.
Opposition activists said Saturday that insurgents a day earlier entered Palmyra, home to priceless archaeological sites that have been in government hands since being taken over by Islamic State in 2017.
In the south, Syrian forces abandoned much of Quneitra province, including the main Baathist city, activists said.
The Syrian Observatory said government forces have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces.
The Syrian army said in a statement that it was carrying out redeployments and repositionings in Sweida and Daraa after the checkpoints were attacked by “terrorists.” The army said it was establishing a “strong and coherent defense and security belt in the area,” apparently to defend Damascus from the south.
The Syrian government has called opposition armed men terrorists since the conflict broke out in March 2011.
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Diplomacy in Doha
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of IranRussia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to hostilities. Turkey is one of the rebels’ main supporters.
Qatar’s top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in the struggle in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad has not taken this opportunity to establish and repair his relationship with his people,” he said.
Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by the speed at which the rebels were advancing and said there was a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity”. He said the war “could damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency” to initiate a political process.
