Dictator Bashar al Assad is increasingly cornered by the lightning advance of the alliance of armed militias that seeks to overthrow him.
This Saturday, the rebels claimed to be surrounding Damascus, while the regime denied having withdrawn and denied that Al Assad had abandoned the capital.
“Our forces have begun the final phase of encircling the capital, Damascus,” said rebel commander Hasan Abdel Ghani, who is part of the alliance led by the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which launched the dazzling offensive last week. last week.
The Ministry of Defense flatly denied that the army had abandoned its positions near the city and denounced “unfounded” versions. The presidency, for its part, denied rumors that Assad had left the capital.
The HTS chief, who has led an impressive offensive taking key cities from the Syrian regime, called on his fighters to prepare to take the capital Damascus.
“Damascus awaits you,” Ahmed al-Sharaa said in a statement to rebel fighters on Telegram, using his real name instead of his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
On Friday, in an interview with CNN, the head of the rebels stressed that the main objective of his coalition is the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution is still to overthrow this regime. “We have the right to use all available means to achieve this goal,” he stated, stressing that the “seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it.”
The Army reinforces its presence near the capital
The Syrian Army indicated this Saturday that it has reinforced its positions in the province of Rif Damascuswhich borders the Syrian capital, to prevent “incidents” from occurring due to the “chaos of the terrorists”, at a time when the insurgents are approaching the most important city in Syria.
“Our Armed Forces units are strengthening their deployment lines throughout Rif Damascus and the southern region to prevent incidents from occurring as a result of the chaos that terrorists are trying to create through their platforms, tools and sleeper cells in some areas. “said a military spokesman in a televised speech.
He assured that “for several days, and especially since this morning, our people have witnessed a systematic terrorist and media war aimed at destabilizing the security of the nation and citizens, and sowing chaos and panic in a way that serves the hostile agenda.”
He indicated that the Syrian Army continues to carry out “its qualitative operations against terrorist concentrations at a high rate in the outskirts of Hama, Homs and the northern area of Deraa, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries among terrorists, as well as the destruction of dozens vehicular”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “citizens demonstrated in the city of Jaramana in Damascus, chanting slogans against the Syrian regime and his family, and They tore down the statue of Hafez al-Assad in the city.”and published a video of the moment of the demolition, a recording that could not be independently verified.
The city of Jaramana is located on the outskirts of Damascus and is an area inhabited by the Druze population, indicated the NGO, whose headquarters are in the United Kingdom but which has a wide network of collaborators on the ground.
Israel helped repel an attack by armed groups
The Israeli army indicated this Saturday that it is helping UN peacekeepers in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights to repel an attack “by armed individuals.”
“Armed individuals attacked a UN post in the Hader area of Syria” and “the Israeli army is helping UN forces repel the attack,” the armed body said in a statement. Hader is located in the Golan Heights buffer zone patrolled by UN peacekeepers.
Türkiye, Russia and Iran call for a ceasefire in Syria
The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersenaffirmed this Saturday that there is consensus among the guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria – Turkey, Russia and Iran – to end the war in the Arab country and start a political process that it is “fundamentally different from what has happened until now.”
“I have called for urgent political talks in Geneva to implement Security Council resolution 2254. “I am pleased to say that the ministers and everyone I am speaking to support this call, and my hope is that a date for it can be announced very soon,” Pedersen told reporters from Doha.
The UN official thus made reference to the resolution that was unanimously approved by the United Nations Security Council in 2015, which lays the foundations for achieving a ceasefire and a negotiated solution to the conflict in force in Syria since 2011.
“My hope is that we can announce a date for this very soon,” said Pedersen, who stated that this Saturday he met with the foreign ministers of Iran and Russia – allies of the dictator Al Assad – and Turkey, supporter of the opposition and of the Islamist groups that began the offensive a week ago.
Donald Trump said the United States should not get involved in the Syrian conflict
The American president-elect made these statements at a time when pressure from the rebels on the dictatorship of Bashar al Assad is growing.
The elected president of the United States, Donald Trumpsaid that Your country should not get involved in the Syrian conflict. He made these statements at a time when pressure from the rebels on the dictatorship of Bashar al Assad.
Syrian protesters topple a statue of dictator Hafez al Assad in a Damascus suburb
The same thing happened on Friday in the city of Hama, north of the capital.
As Syrian rebels continue their advance towards the country’s capital, this Saturday, a group of protesters toppled a statue of the late father of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, Hafezin the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, which is mostly Druze and Christian.
The head of the Syrian rebels called on his fighters to prepare to take control of the capital: “Damascus awaits you”
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani issued a brief statement, while the Islamist group reported that it had already begun “the final phase of surrounding the capital.” The regime’s Army denied that its forces have withdrawn from their positions in towns in the southwest of the city.
The head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has led an impressive offensive seizing key cities from the Syrian regime, He called on his fighters to prepare to take the capital, Damascus.
The Syrian rebels continue their offensive against the Al Assad regime: they are already less than 20 kilometers from Damascus
After having taken control of the province of Daraa, in the south, the jihadists advance towards the capital
Pressure is mounting on Bashar al Assad’s dictatorship in Syria. The rebels are already about 20 kilometers from Damascus, the capitalafter having wrested control of the southern province of Daraa from the regime.
The Syrian regime army confirmed that it withdrew its troops in two southern provinces and applied containment measures
In the midst of the rebel offensive, the General Command of the Syrian Armed Forces claims to have taken measures to protect citizens and secure strategic areas in the south
The Syrian regime army announced this Saturday the withdrawal of its units in the provinces of Exit y Al Sueidalocated in the south of Syriaafter a series of attacks perpetrated by “terrorist elements” who led offensives against checkpoints and distant Army points.
