A new map shows how dramatically Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime collapsed in just days as rebel forces advanced with lightning attacks and seized power.
The now-exiled president, who has waged a brutal crackdown on opposition forces for the past 13 years, appeared to maintain control of the capital, Damascus, just last week.
However, while jubilant critics of the brutal Assad regime today have been celebrating his abrupt departure from office – and the country – it has now become clear how quickly his fall occurred.
While the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza had come to dominate global attention in recent years, it appears that Syria’s rebel groups had been preparing for the perfect time to strike.
Syrian rebel forces launched a rapid offensive from the northwest on November 27, surging out of Idlib province and overwhelming unprepared government troops who reportedly retreated en masse.
And last weekend the rebels, led by the Islamist militant organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), took full control of the city of Aleppo – the capital of the country’s most populous governorate – before marching south. , towards the city of Hama.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Homs last night as pro-regime troops fled, and rebels freed thousands of detainees from the city’s prison as security forces hurriedly left after burning their documents.
And now intense sounds of gunfire could be heard in central Damascus, two residents said Sunday, as rebels headed toward the capital.
Residents in many districts of Damascus turned out to protest against Assad on Saturday night, and security forces were unwilling or unable to take drastic action.
One resident said the city was on edge, with security forces on the streets and many stores running out of basic foodstuffs.
The Syrian army withdrew from much of the country’s south on Saturday, but later said it insisted it was fortifying positions in the Damascus suburbs and in the south.
However, Syrian government forces have abandoned the key city of Homs after less than a day of fighting, leaving Assad’s 24-year rule hanging by a thread.
Thousands of Homs residents were seen dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free” and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad.”
The young people tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control has collapsed after a dizzying week-long military withdrawal.
The fall of Homs and the threat to the capital pose an immediate existential danger to the Assad dynasty’s five-decade reign over Syria and the continued influence there of its main regional patron, Iran.
The capture of Homs is also a powerful symbol of the dramatic return of the rebel movement after 13 years of conflict.
This was the situation in Syria less than a week ago
A rebel fighter gestures in the Homs countryside, after Syrian rebels pressed their lightning advance and then took control of the city.
Western officials have claimed that Assad’s government could fall within the next week.
HTS, the group leading the rebel offensive in Syria, is a powerful Islamist organization that has maintained de facto control of Idlib for several years.
The group, led by Abu Mohammad al-Julani, solidified in 2017 as a conglomerate of several Islamist factions, but has its roots in Al Qaeda.
The core component of HTS emerged from a group once known as Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda, but later sought to reposition itself as a legitimate Syrian nationalist organization.
It has officially severed ties with Al Qaeda and created a civilian arm known as the “Salvation Government” through which it seeks to rule in Syria, insisting it has no ambitions to expand beyond the nation’s borders.
Initial reports from civilians in Aleppo appear to suggest that HTS militants have treated residents well after overthrowing Syrian government forces.
But there are suspicions that HTS’s jihadist origins persist and it is still designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU.
HTS is largely fighting alongside the Syrian National Army (SNA), which is a coalition of rebel groups supporting what was previously called the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the group of Syrian defectors that broke away from government forces.
The SNA enjoys discreet support from Turkey, which is also said to have a cautious agreement with the HTS, although the latter’s jihadist origins prevent it from establishing a relationship with Ankara.
Rebel fighters stand in a military vehicle in the countryside of Homs, after Syrian rebels pressed their lightning advance on Saturday.
People in Damascus tear down a statue of Hafez al-Assad and wave a Druze flag as rebel forces approach the capital, December 7.
Al-Golani, the top rebel leader, called the capture of Homs this weekend a historic moment and urged fighters not to harm “those who drop their weapons.”
He also said in a separate statement that the rebels were about to take over the entire country and that “the end of the criminal regime is near.”
The capture of Homs, an important crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean, effectively separates Damascus from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect and from Russia’s air and naval base.
Syrian army and security commanders left Homs on Saturday by helicopter for the coast, while a large military convoy withdrew over land, a senior army officer said. The rebels said they were entering the city center.
The country’s state news agency denied reports that Assad had already fled to Russia, insisting that he continued to rule from Damascus.
However, following the statement claiming it was “fake news”, a source told CNN that Assad was “nowhere to be found” at his usual residences in the capital.
Lebanon said it is closing all of its land border crossings with Syria except a main one linking Beirut with Damascus.
Jordan closed a border crossing with Syria due to the security situation on the Syrian side.
Residents of Hama set fire to a large banner with the image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hanging on the facade of a municipal building.
Local residents celebrate after opposition forces led by HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham) took control of Hama city center and surrounding villages on December 6.
Rebel forces launching a lightning offensive in Syria aim to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad, their Islamist leader said in an interview published Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, Assad’s allies Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have shown no signs of intervening.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told CNN that Turkey wants neighboring Syria to be able to “quickly achieve the peace and tranquility it has longed for” during 13 years of civil conflict.
He said: “I want to say this openly: we do not have our eyes on any land, not even a pebble, that belongs to another country.”
Charles Lister, director of Syria and counterterrorism and extremism programs at the Middle East Institute, told Bloomberg that Assad’s future “has never seemed more fragile.”