Syrian rebels battle for Homs and advance on Damascus, Assad's rule at stake

Syrian rebels battled authorities forces for management of the important thing metropolis of Homs on Saturday and superior in direction of the capital, Damascus, as entrance traces collapsed throughout the nation, throwing President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule into the stability.

Because the rebels’ sweep into Aleppo per week in the past, authorities defenses have crumbled at a dizzying pace as insurgents seized a string of main cities and rose up in locations the place the insurrection had lengthy appeared over.

The dual threats to strategically very important Homs and the capital, Damascus, now pose an existential risk to Assad’s a long time of rule in Syria and the continued affect there of his most important regional backer, Iran.

A Homs resident and armed forces and insurgent sources stated the insurgents had breached authorities defenses from the north and east of the town. A insurgent commander stated that they had taken management of a military camp and villages outdoors the town.

State tv reported that the insurgents had not penetrated into Homs though it stated they had been on the town outskirts, the place it stated the navy was putting them with artillery and drones.

Insurgents have seized nearly the complete southwest inside 24 hours, they usually have superior to inside 30 km (20 miles) of Damascus as authorities forces fell again, rebels stated.

Underscoring the opportunity of an rebellion within the capital, protesters took to the streets in a number of Damascus suburbs, ripping up Assad posters and tearing down a statue of his father, former President Hafez al-Assad, uncontested by military or police. Some had been joined by troopers who had turned into civilian garments and abandoned, residents stated.

Nevertheless, the state information company reported that Assad stays in Damascus and the navy stated it was reinforcing across the capital and south.

The tempo of occasions has shocked Arab capitals and raised fears of a brand new wave of regional instability.

Syria’s civil struggle, which erupted in 2011 as an rebellion towards Assad’s rule, dragged in huge outdoors powers, created house for jihadist militants to plot assaults around the globe, and despatched hundreds of thousands of refugees into neighboring states.

Assad had lengthy relied on allies to subdue the rebels, with bombing by Russian warplanes, whereas Iran despatched allied forces, together with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi militia, to bolster the Syrian navy and storm rebel strongholds.

However Russia has been centered on the struggle in Ukraine since 2022, and Hezbollah has suffered huge losses in its personal grueling struggle with Israel, considerably limiting its potential or that of Iran to bolster Assad.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stated the U.S. shouldn’t be concerned within the battle and will “let it play out”.

The international ministers of Russia, Iran and the principle rebels’ backer Turkey met on Saturday and agreed on the significance of Syria’s territorial integrity and on restarting a political course of, they stated.

However there was no indication they agreed on any concrete steps, with the state of affairs inside Syria altering by the hour.

Russia has a naval base and airbase in Syria that haven’t solely been necessary for its assist of Assad, but additionally for its potential to challenge affect within the Mediterranean and Africa.

Moscow has been supporting authorities forces with intense air strikes but it surely was not clear if it may simply step up this marketing campaign.

Iran has stated it will think about sending forces to Syria, however any fast additional help would possible rely on Hezbollah and Iraqi militias.

The Lebanese group despatched some “supervising forces” to Homs on Friday however any vital deployment would danger publicity to Israeli airstrikes, Western officers stated.

Iran-backed Iraqi militias are on excessive alert, with hundreds of closely armed fighters able to deploy to Syria, lots of them amassed close to the border. Iraq doesn’t search navy intervention in Syria, a authorities spokesman stated on Friday.

Britain warned Assad that any chemical weapons use was a crimson line and can be met with “acceptable motion.”

The Homs resident stated he had seen the rebels advance previous a Syrian Air Pressure base within the north of the town that was thought-about a serious defensive space. The resident later stated combating was audible within the metropolis outskirts.

An opposition determine in contact with insurgent command and a Syrian military supply each additionally stated the insurgents had been inside the town.

Seizing Homs, an necessary crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean, would minimize off Damascus from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, and from Russia’s air and naval base.

Within the south, the fast collapse of presidency management may enable a concerted assault on the capital, the seat of Assad’s energy.

The Syrian navy pulled again so far as Saasa 30 km (20 miles) from Damascus to regroup, a Syrian military officer stated.

Jarmana, the place protesters pulled down a statue of Hafez al-Assad, is within the metropolis’s southern suburbs. Troopers had been deserting within the former insurgent stronghold of Daraya and in Mezzeh, close to a serious airbase, residents stated.

The principle insurgent group, the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, stated it had an obligation to guard governmental, worldwide and U.N. places of work in Syria.

In an indication of presidency forces’ collapse within the east, round 2,000 Syrian troopers crossed the border into Iraq to hunt sanctuary, the mayor of Iraqi border city al-Qaem stated.

Syrian Kurdish fighters captured jap Deir el-Zor on Friday, jeopardizing Assad’s land connection to allies in Iraq.