Assad flees as rebels take Syria

TDT | agencies

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken Damascus in a lightning offensive on Sunday, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. Residents in the Syrian capital were seen cheering in the streets of Damascus, as the rebel factions heralded the departure of “tyrant” Assad and “declare the city of Damascus free”.

The president’s reported departure comes less than two weeks since the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group launched its campaign challenging more than five decades of rule by the Assad family.

“After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and (forced) displacement... we announce today the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria,” the rebel factions said on Telegram.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali said he was ready to cooperate with “any leadership chosen by the Syrian people”. The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP “Assad left Syria via Damascus international airport before the army security forces left” the facility. HTS said their fighters broke into a jail on the outskirts of the capital, announcing an “end of the era of tyranny in the prison of Sednaya” which has become a by-word for darkest abuses of the Syrian regime.

The rapid developments in Damascus come only hours after HTS said they had captured the strategic city of Homs, on the way to the capital.

The defence ministry earlier denied that rebels had entered Homs, describing the situation there as “safe and stable”. Homs lies about 140 kilometres (85 miles) north of the capital and was the third major city seized by the rebels who began their advance on November 27, reigniting a years-long war that had become largely dormant.

Jordan has urged its citizens to leave neighbouring Syria “as soon as possible”, as have the United States and Assad ally Russia, which both keep troops in Syria.

In Sweida, a local fighter told AFP that after government forces withdrew “from their positions and headquarters, we are now securing and protecting vital facilities”. An Iraqi security source told AFP that Baghdad has allowed in hundreds of Syrian soldiers, who “fled the front lines”, through the Al-Qaim border crossing. A second source put the figure at 2,000 troops, including officers. UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for “urgent political talks” to implement a 2015 Security Council resolution, which set out a roadmap for a negotiated settlement.

US President-elect Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the United States should “not get involved”, after outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Friday for a “political solution to the conflict”, in a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. After Fidan and his Iranian and Russian counterparts discussed Syria in Qatar on Saturday, Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said they agreed on the initiation of “political dialogue between the Syrian government and legitimate opposition groups”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was “inadmissible” to allow a “terrorist group to take control” of Syrian territory. Moscow and Tehran have supported Assad’s government and army during the war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government backs some armed groups in northern Syria, said Saturday that Syria “is tired of war, blood and tears”.