Syrian rebels declare they’ve seized Damascus; Assad reportedly flees capital

Insurgent fighters claimed they captured the Syrian capital of Damascus early Sunday as authorities forces loyal to the nation’s president, Bashar al-Assad, have been routed in a matter of days.

The rebels’ declare would open a brand new chapter within the 13-year-long civil conflict that has ravaged the traditional land.

“We declare the town of Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad,” Hassan Abdul-Ghani, senior commander of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, referred to as HTS, mentioned in a put up on WhatsApp. “To the displaced folks around the globe, Free Syria awaits you.”

NBC Information has not independently confirmed the insurgent’s declare.

Assad’s location was not instantly recognized. A number of media experiences point out he has left Damascus, and Abdul-Ghani mentioned Assad had fled. NBC Information has not confirmed his departure or whereabouts.

Amid experiences that Assad left the capital, Syria’s prime minister, Ghazi al-Jalali, mentioned he’s in his house and doesn’t intend to depart “besides in a peaceable method that ensures the continued functioning of public establishments and state amenities, selling safety and reassurance for our fellow residents.”

He mentioned the federal government is able to cooperate with “any management chosen by the Syrian folks.”

HTS Basic Command mentioned it additionally freed the folks being held in Sednaya Jail. The Syrian authorities has detained hundreds on the army jail on the outskirts of Damascus, in line with Reuters.

“We announce to the Syrian folks the information of the liberation of our captives and the breaking of their chains, proclaiming the tip of the period of oppression in Sednaya Jail.”

The sudden takeover of the capital by HTS militants was seen as a blow to the skin forces which have enabled Assad to cling to energy for twenty-four years — Russia, Iran and Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

President Joe Biden was monitoring the occasions in Syria and “staying in fixed contact with regional companions,” White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokesman Sean Savett mentioned in an announcement.

In a put up on his Reality Social platform Saturday morning, President-elect Donald Trump mentioned in all capital letters that the USA ought to “don’t have anything to do with” the state of affairs in Syria. “This isn’t our struggle. Let it play out.” 

Militant group offensive

Damascus fell not lengthy after rebels on Friday besieged the Syrian metropolis of Homs with a speedy assault on authorities forces that left three of the nation’s 5 largest cities of their fingers and nothing to cease them from marching on the Syrian capital. HTS rebels claimed Saturday ET that that they had captured the town, a day after additionally claiming to have seized the town of Daraa.

The U.S., which has about 900 American troops in northern Syria, has been intently monitoring developments within the nation. 

In lower than two weeks, the HTS rebels have been additionally in a position to seize the metropolis of Aleppo within the north, in addition to the central metropolis of Hama, the place authorities forces have been compelled out Thursday. 

The HTS assault on Aleppo was the primary opposition assault on the town since 2016, when a brutal air marketing campaign by Russian warplanes helped Assad retake management of Aleppo.

“Our forces proceed to advance in the direction of the town of Homs at a gradual tempo, because of God, after the arrival of convoys carrying tons of of displaced folks from Homs to discourage Assad’s aggression in opposition to their metropolis,” Hassan Abdul-Ghani, senior commander of the HTS-led forces, posted Friday on X.

The speedy advance by HTS comes because the Mideast is awash in contemporary preventing, with U.S.-backed Israel attempting to root out Hamas in Gaza and keep a fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Each Hamas and Hezbollah are Iranian-allied teams.

In the meantime, pro-Assad troopers have been battling Kurdish forces that seized authorities positions in japanese Syria close to the cities of Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zour, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights mentioned Friday.

HTS origins

HTS grew out of the previous Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and is designated as a terrorist group by the USA and the United Nations.

It’s certainly one of a number of competing forces in Syria preventing to convey down the Assad regime that, because the starting of the nation’s civil conflict virtually 14 years in the past, has killed tons of of hundreds of Syrians.

A 2020 ceasefire left Assad in command of 70% of Syria, however some 6.8 million Syrians have fled the nation.

Many have gone to Europe, the place the sudden inflow of Syrian refugees has fueled a resurgence of anti-immigrant far-right actions from Portugal to Poland.

The latest battlefield successes of HTS are the fruits of 4 years of attempting to show the insurgent forces right into a power able to difficult Assad’s military and equipping them with drones and different high-tech weapons of conflict, specialists have mentioned.

“The enlargement of models … together with large-scale indigenous rocket and missile manufacturing — has created a power that Assad’s regime has severely struggled to defend in opposition to, not to mention outmaneuver,” mentioned Charles Lister, director of the Syria program on the Center East Institute, a Washington-based assume tank, in a put up on X.