The military command of the Syrian opposition says that its rebels entered the Syrian capital Damascus and overthrew the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Most likely, the latter is no longer in the capital.
This is reported by AP.
This is the first time since 2018 that opposition forces have reached Damascus and taken control of areas on the outskirts of the city. The day before, the rebels captured the strategically important city of Homs, the third largest in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights believes that Bashar al-Assad flew out of Damascus early in the morning on Sunday, December 8.
Syrian state television aired a video message from men who said President Bashar al-Assad had been ousted and all prisoners freed. The man who read the statement called on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve the state institutions of the "free Syrian state".
The leader of Syriaʼs largest rebel group has banned his fighters from approaching government institutions, saying they will remain under the supervision of the countryʼs prime minister for the time being. Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government is ready to "reach out" to the opposition and hand over the functions of a transitional government to it.
Organizations that used to be close to Bashar al-Assadʼs government are trying to distance themselves after its rapid fall. Syriaʼs traditionally pro-government Al-Watan newspaper wrote: "We are facing a new page for Syria. We thank God that we are not shedding more blood. We believe that Syria will be for all Syrians" and asked not to blame journalists for publishing government statements in the past.
Meanwhile, in the streets and mosques of Damascus, crowds of people celebrate the overthrow of the Assad regime. They are chanting slogans against Assad, praying, honking.
What preceded
Active clashes between the rebels and Syrian troops began on November 27. The offensive was launched by the Syrian Revolutionary Forces in "response to months of continuous attacks on civilians" by the Assad regime in Aleppo province. It was the heaviest fighting in northwest Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters. It is also the largest attack by opposition fighters on the city since they were pushed out of the eastern districts in 2016.
On November 30, the Syrian Armed Forces declared a "temporary withdrawal" from Aleppo to prepare a counteroffensive against opposition groups. As early as December 1, the media reported that the Assadʼs Forces had lost control of Aleppo — for the first time since the beginning of the military conflict that began more than ten years ago. Later, it became known that the Assad regime had lost the city of Hama, the fifth largest city in the country.
The Ukrainian intelligence (known as GUR) says that Russian troops are suffering losses during the fighting in Syria. Against this background, the Russian Federation changed the commander of forces in the region — he became General Oleksandr Chaiko, who commanded a group of Russian troops in Syria in 2017-2019. GUR noted that it currently knows about "hundreds" of Russians who are considered missing there.
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