Hours after insurgent fighters breached the strategic Syrian metropolis of Homs, they stated that they’d breached the gates of Damascus and begun getting into the town, information company Reuters reported.
The beautiful march has left the President Bashar al-Assad-led authorities on the backfoot.
Based on a conflict monitor, the rebels’ strikes round Damascus got here after the Syrian military withdrew from a lot of southern a part of the nation, leaving extra areas, together with a number of provincial capitals, below the management of opposition fighters.
The militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stated on Saturday that it had seized management of Homs, the nation’s largest province, which borders Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. HTS senior commander Lt. Col. Hassan Abdul-Ghani declared: “Our operations proceed to liberate the whole countryside of Damascus, and our eyes are centered on the capital.” The group additionally claimed to have taken management of Sweida, Quneitra, and Daraa inside a 24-hour interval as a part of their blitzkrieg marketing campaign.
Early on Sunday, the sounds of intense gunfire had been reported within the centre of Damascus, in line with two residents. The supply of the capturing stays unclear, however the developments come as insurgents draw nearer to the capital.
What’s the standing of the conflict?
Presently, with Homs falling into the arms of the rebels was a significant victory for them as they’ve already seized management of the cities of Aleppo and Hama, in addition to massive elements of the south.
The autumn of Homs got here as a significant blow to the federal government because it severed Damascus from the coastal area that’s the stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect and the place his Russian allies have a naval and air base.
For the primary time within the nation’s civil conflict, the federal government now has management of solely three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus. The advances previously week had been among the many largest lately.
