Syrian rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have claimed control of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, and reports say they have reached the gates of the capital, Damascus.
The Syrian government has been forced to deny rumors that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country. Geographically located between the capital Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, Homs could be a major blow to Assad’s regime.
In a Telegram video, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said, “We are living in the last moments of the liberation of the city of Homs … this historic event that will distinguish truth from falsehood,” as reported by BBC.
Syrian opposition fighters remove the government Syrian flag from an official building in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Gaith Alsaid)
Jolani added that it was a “historic moment” for the rebel group and urged the fighters “not to harm those who lay down their arms”. In a blow to President Assad’s government, rebels have been able to take control of Syria’s third city after Aleppo and Hama, and analysts believe the capture of Homs could prove to be a game changer.
“Rebel factions entered the city of Homs and took control of some neighborhoods after withdrawing security forces and troops from their last positions in the city,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Syrian government has been pushed back by rebels as the government now controls only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus, for the first time in the country’s long-running civil war, the report said. Associated Press.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who supports Assad’s government on the international front, said he felt “sorry for the Syrian people”. Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, has called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition”.