Syria updates: Rebel forces say they're advancing into Damascus

[ad_1] Insurgent forces in Syria mentioned they had been advancing into the capital Damascus after capturing 4 different cities previously 24 hours as a lightning advance by insurgents continued, threatening President Bashar al-Assad's grip on energy.

Within the early hours of Sunday morning native time, the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, mentioned on the Telegram messaging app, that insurgent forces had entered Damascus and reached Sednaya jail, a authorities facility dubbed the "human slaughterhouse" by the human rights group Amnesty Worldwide.

"Our forces have begun getting into the capital Damascus," the group mentioned in a single message. In a follow-up assertion, the group mentioned it was "the top of the period of injustice of Sednaya jail."

Earlier, the group claimed it had taken management of town of Homs, within the north-central a part of the nation on Saturday.

HTS chief Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani launched a video claiming that authorities forces withdrew with no battle there, and the insurgent group later launched an announcement, "Our eyes are watching the capital, Damascus."

Anti authorities forces experience previous a Syrian regime navy car overturned on the street, after insurgent took management of the central Hama governorate, on December 7, 2024.

Omar Haj Kadour/AFP by way of Getty Photos

Lighting advance by insurgent teams General, the rebel group claimed credit score for taking three different Syrian cities over the previous day -- together with Daraa, Queinetra and Sweida -- in a sequence of fast advances by opposition fighters which have largely been met with little resistance from authorities forces.

All through the day Saturday, because the insurgent forces had been on the transfer, the Syrian military withdrew from a lot of southern Syria, leaving extra areas of the nation, together with two provincial capitals, beneath the management of the rebels, in line with the navy and an opposition warfare monitor.

In an announcement launched earlier Saturday, the Syrian authorities was pressured to disclaim Assad had fled the nation, issuing an announcement calling media stories on the contrary "rumors and false information."

U.S. intelligence had been making ready for Assad's entrance line to break down beneath the press of insurgent forces, and the U.S. had intelligence that Assad's household had left the nation for Moscow.

Armed rebels have fun their advances in Hama, Syria, by firing photographs into the air on December 6, 2024. Rebels led by HTS have intensified their offensive, seizing management of key areas in Aleppo and Hama and pushing additional in the direction of Homs, sparking widespread displacement and heightened instability in west-central Syria.

Bilal Alhammoud/Center East Photos/AFP by way of Getty

Earlier this week, authorities forces withdrew from Hama, Syria's fourth largest metropolis, which sits between the capital Damascus to the south and Aleppo -- Syria's second metropolis -- to the north.

Aleppo fell to the lightning insurgent offensive on Nov. 29. Hama was one of many few main cities that didn't fall to anti-government forces following the unsuccessful 2011 revolution in opposition to Assad's rule.

Who're the Syrian rebels? The insurgent offensive is being waged by HTS and a group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias often known as the Syrian Nationwide Military.

HTS, which has its roots in al-Qaida, is taken into account a terrorist group by the U.S.

Nevertheless, lately, the group mentioned it has severed ties with al-Qaida and sought to remake itself by specializing in selling civilian authorities and navy motion, in line with The Related Press.

If Assad flees the nation and HTS good points management of Syrian authorities establishments, it is unknown how they are going to search to control.

"Will they revert again extra to that when it was affiliated with al-Qaida?" mentioned Javed Ali, affiliate professor on the College of Michigan's Ford Faculty of Public Coverage, throughout an look on ABC Information Reside. "Or will it look extra just like the Taliban in Afghanistan -- which is Islamist, conservative, however not, for probably the most half, intent on threatening its neighbors or having its nation be used as a launchpad for assaults in opposition to the West."

What officers are saying concerning the scenario in Syria Ali known as the developments a "catastrophic loss" for Iran, which has lengthy supported the Assad regime and a "black mark" for the Russian authorities, which has additionally propped up Assad.

Citing media stories, each nations seem to have pulled advisers and gear in another country, Ali mentioned.

"If these withdrawals proceed, each on the Iranian and the Russian facet, it is solely principally the Syrian navy and safety forces left," he mentioned. "And very similar to we noticed in Afghanistan in 2021, they're in all probability not going to have the ability to maintain again in opposition to HTS and all the opposite insurgent teams which are on the outskirts of Damascus proper now."

President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the developments within the Syrian civil warfare on his social media platform Fact Social on Saturday and mentioned the U.S. ought to keep out of the matter solely.

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its body damaged, in a Syrian regime's Political Safety Department facility on the outskirts of the central metropolis of Hama, following the seize of the realm by anti-government forces, on December 7, 2024.

Omar Haj Kadour/AFP by way of Getty Photos

"Syria is a multitude, however isn't our good friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!" Trump posted.

Within the put up, Trump famous that Russia, which has lengthy supported Assad's regime, is "tied up in Ukraine" and apparently unable to intervene in Syria. Trump mentioned Assad being pressured out "may very well be the very best factor that may occur" to the Russian authorities.

In the meantime earlier Saturday, Russian International Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on the insurgent offensive in Syria, saying Russia would oppose it "in each means potential" however Russia "will actively promote the necessity to resume dialogue with the opposition," which means between the federal government and the rebels.