BEIRUT (AP) – A dramatic march by rebels in Syria accelerated Saturday with news that they had reached the outskirts of the capital and the government was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.
The rebel advance in Damascus, reported by an opposition military analyst and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of the country’s south, leaving some areas, including two provincial towns, under opposition control.
The advance last week was among the biggest in recent years by opposition parties, led by a group with origins in Al-Qaida and considered a terrorist organization by the US and the United Nations. As they advanced, the rebels, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, faced little resistance from the Syrian army.
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The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to bring about a “political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria is changing by the minute.
In Damascus, people rushed to gather things. Thousands rushed to the border between Syria and Lebanon, trying to leave the country.
Many stores in the capital have been closed, one resident told The Associated Press, and those that remained open were almost completely empty. Some stores were selling items at three times the regular price.
“The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” said the resident, insisting that his name be withheld for fear of retaliation.
“People are worried whether there will be a war (in Damascus) or not.”
It was the first time opposition forces had reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when the Syrian army retook the area following a years-long siege.
The status of Assad
In the midst of these developments, the media in Syria denied the rumors that were rife in the internet that Assad has left the country, saying that he is doing his job in Damascus.
Assad’s main international backer, Russia, is busy with its own war in Ukraine, and Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah, which once sent thousands of fighters against his forces, has been weakened by a year-long conflict with Israel. Meanwhile, Iran has seen its proxies across the region decimated by Israeli airstrikes.
Mr. Pedersen said the date of the talks in Geneva on the implementation of UN Resolution 2254 will be announced later. This resolution, adopted in 2015, called for a political process led by Syria, starting with the formation of a governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution, and ending with UN-led elections.
Rebel march
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Britain, which monitors the war against the opposition, said that the rebels are in the Damascus areas of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria towards the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added.
The rebel commander, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive and siege of Damascus.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army has sent several reinforcements to defend the capital city of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, as rebels advance to its outskirts.
The terror began on November 27, when gunmen took control of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s capital, and the center of Hama, the country’s fourth-largest city.
The leader of HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, told CNN in an interview on Thursday from Syria that the goal is to overthrow the Assad government.
Britain’s Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army had withdrawn from two southern provinces and was sending support to Homs, where fighting is looming. If the rebels capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where the president has the most support.
The Syrian army said in a statement on Saturday that it had carried out a search and rescue operation in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints were attacked by “terrorists.” The army said it was establishing a “strong and unified defense and security belt in the area,” apparently to protect Damascus from the south.
The Syrian government has referred to the armed opposition as terrorists since the outbreak of war in March 2011.
After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces continued to control five regional cities – Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.
Tartus is home to Russia’s only military base outside the former Soviet Union while Latakia is home to a major Russian air base.
Diplomacy in Doha
In the gas-rich country of Qatar, the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey have met to discuss the situation in Syria. Turkey is the main supporter of the rebels.
Qatar’s ambassador, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the instability in the fighting in recent years to solve the country’s problems. “Assad did not take this opportunity to start acting and restore his relationship with his people,” he said.
Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by the speed of the rebels and said there was a real threat to the “space” of Syria. He said that war can “harm and destroy what remains if there is no sense of urgency” to start politics.
After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces continued to control five regional cities – Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.
On Friday, US-backed Kurdish fighters led by the Syrian Democratic Forces captured large areas of the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, which borders Iraq, as well as the regional capital of the same name. The occupation of Deir el-Zour affects Iran’s influence in the region, as this area is a gateway to the corridor that connects the Mediterranean with Iran, a supply line for fighters supported by Iran, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
With the capture of the main border crossing with Iraq by the SDF and after the opposition fighters took control of the Naseeb border crossing to Jordan in the south of Syria, the Syrian government’s only access to other countries is the Masnaa border crossing with Lebanon.
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Karam reported from London. Correspondents Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.