The war in Syria escalated on Saturday as rebel forces said they had captured the southern city of Daraa near Jordan, their fourth major Syrian enclave in the past week.
In the first offensive since 2020, when rebel groups were pushed into the country’s far north, militants led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group have taken control of Aleppo, Hama and Homs, destabilizing Syria’s political landscape.
The surprise attack has raised concerns across borders, including in Iran, which has begun evacuating its citizens and officials from the war-torn region.
Rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drive on a street in al-Rashidin, Syria’s Aleppo province on November 29. (Reuters file photo)
The uprising comes at a moment of relative weakness for Syria’s three primary allies, exacerbated by their own regional conflicts – Iran’s tensions with Israel; Russian military invasion of Ukraine; and Hezbollah’s war against Israel.
Thousands have fled Homs after rebels gained ground
Syrian rebels claimed to have reached the country’s third-largest city, Homs, which Daraa’s rebels had captured, positioning them to strategically capture other cities to maintain President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power.
A bullet-riddled image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears on the facade of a provincial government office after the opposition captured Hama. (Photo: AP)
“Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of Homs city and are now within its walls,” the Syrian faction leading the massive offensive said in a telegram, Reuters reported.
If the Sunni Muslim rebels conquer Homs, it will give them access from the coast to serious Damascus. The coast is a stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect and is home to a naval base and air base of his Russian allies.
According to the news, thousands of people fled to the Mediterranean coastal areas of Latakia and Tartus on Thursday to avoid the attacks of the rebels and reached Homs.
Videos circulating online showed highways congested with vehicles as residents fled Homs.
At least 200 rebels have been killed in Russian-Syrian airstrikes targeting rebel headquarters in Hama, Idlib and the countryside of Aleppo, according to Syrian state TV, citing the Russian coordination center in Syria.
Turkey urges talks, India issues advisory: What have other countries said?
The Russian embassy in Damascus has instructed Russian citizens to leave Syria, where Moscow has become a key ally of Syrian President al-Assad.
Similarly, Iran has begun evacuating its military and embassy personnel, the New York Times reported, citing Iranian officials. Among those moved to neighboring Iraq and Lebanon were top commanders of Iran’s powerful Quds Force, the external wing of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, officials said.
India has also raised concerns by issuing an advisory on Friday.
“We have taken into account the recent fighting in the northern region of Syria. We are monitoring the situation closely. About 90 Indian nationals are in Syria, 14 of whom are working in various UN organizations,’ said Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
Meanwhile, the White House has said that it is closely monitoring the developments in Syria.
In a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the Syrian government should start talks with the opposition and start a political process, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source told Reuters.
– Reuters, with inputs from The New York Times