Sources say Syrian dictator jetted off to unknown locale, as thousands celebrate in streets. IDF bolsters defenses in Golan, sets up positions in buffer zone with Syria
On state TV, Syrian rebels declare Damascus taken, Assad regime ousted, prisoners freed
Syrian rebels announce in a televised statement that they have freed Damascus and overthrown President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year regime, adding that all prisoners have been released.
Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent and jailed thousands, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination earlier today, two senior army officers have told Reuters, as rebels entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.
Head of US-backed Kurdish-led forces hails Syrian regime’s fall
“This change presents an opportunity to build a new Syria based on democracy and justice that secures the rights of all Syrians,” Mazloum Abdi, the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces, says in a written statement, praising the fall of the “authoritarian regime in Damascus.”
The Kurdish-led group has a significant presence in northeastern Syria, where they have clashed with the extremist Islamic State group and Turkey-backed militias over the years.
Syrian PM calls for free elections, says he’s in touch with rebel leader as contact with Assad lost
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Jalali says Syria should hold free elections to allow its people to decide their leadership.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Jalali also says he has been in contact with rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani to discuss managing the current transitional period, marking a notable development in efforts to shape Syria’s political future.
Jalali adds that he doesn’t know the whereabouts of ousted president Bashar al-Assad and his defense minister, saying they lost communication last night.
In accordance with the situational assessment following the recent events in #Syria, including the entry of armed personnel into the buffer zone, the IDF has deployed forces in the buffer zone and in several other places necessary for its defense, to ensure the safety of the? pic.twitter.com/Nsno9GBWB4
? Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 8, 2024
We emphasize that the IDF is not interfering with the internal events in Syria.
The IDF will continue to operate as long as necessary in order to preserve the buffer zone and defend Israel and its civilians.
IDF says it entered Golan buffer zone to prevent Syrian gunmen from entering:
The IDF confirms that it has taken up new positions in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights, following the fall of the Assad regime.
?The IDF has deployed troops in the buffer zone and in a number of areas that are necessary to defend, in order to ensure the security of the communities in the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel,? the military says in a statement.
The move comes following a fresh assessment and ?the possibility of gunmen entering the buffer zone,? the IDF says.
?We emphasize that the IDF does not intervene in the events taking place in Syria,? the military adds.
It marks the first time since the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement was signed that Israeli forces have taken up positions in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria. The IDF has entered the zone briefly on several occasions in the past.
The disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria concluded the Yom Kippur War.
Crowds of Syrians celebrate Assad’s ouster in central Damascus
‘Damn his soul’:
Crowds of Syrians have gathered to celebrate in the central squares of Damascus, chanting anti-Assad slogans and honking car horns. In some areas, celebratory gunshots ring out.
“My feelings are indescribable,” says Omar Daher, a 29-year-old lawyer. “After the fear that he [Bashar al-Assad] and his father made us live in for many years, and the panic and state of terror that I was living in, I can’t believe it.”
Daher says his father was killed by security forces and his brother is in detention, his fate unknown. Assad “is a criminal, a tyrant and a dog,” he says.
“Damn his soul and the soul of the entire Assad family,” says Ghazal al-Sharif, another reveler in central Damascus. “It is the prayer of every oppressed person and God answered it today.”
Ra’am party fetes Assad’s fall, says Syrian refugees can return to help rebuild country
Israel’s Islamist Ra’am party and the affiliated Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement issue a statement welcoming the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s “dictatorial regime,” framing it as “a historic turning point in the Syrian people’s journey.”
The statement says the Syrian nation has made immense sacrifices to restore its honor after living “for decades under a tyrannical regime that served as a tool for persecution, killing, deportation and violation of rights.”
Ra’am adds that the developments are a ray of hope for millions of Syrian refugees worldwide to return to their homeland and help “build a new Syria that will highlight the values of liberty and human respect.”
Despite regime’s fall, Syrian army says it’s operating against ‘terrorist groups’ in key regions
The Syrian army says its forces are pressing ahead with military operations against “terrorist groups” in the countryside of Hama, Homs and Daraa, areas that have witnessed escalating clashes in recent days.
The statement comes after rebel forces announced on television they had freed Damascus and ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
The Syrian army says there is a need for awareness of what it describes as a large-scale plot targeting the country, urging citizens to remain vigilant in defending Syria’s stability and sovereignty.
Syrian rebels take Homs, advance into Damascus as Hezbollah ousted from key border city
A stunning march across Syria by insurgent rebels accelerated Saturday with news that they had reached the gates of the capital Damascus after capturing a key central city of Homs, sending government forces and fighters from the Iran-backed Hezbollah into a hasty retreat. In a sign of the regime’s tenuous grip on power, the government was forced to deny rumors that President Bashar al-Assad had fled the country.
The loss of Homs was a potentially crippling blow for Assad. It stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus – the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a strategic Russian naval base.
South of Homs, rebels also captured the smaller city of al-Qusayr, which had been held by the Iran-backed Hezbollah since the terror group captured it while fighting in support of Assad. The city sits next to a border crossing with Lebanon considered to be a major smuggling route used by Hezbollah to bring in Iranian arms, with Israel allegedly carrying out a number of strikes in the area, including one late last week.
Hezbollah, still smarting after two months of punishing attacks by Israel that wiped out much of the group’s leadership and arsenal, withdrew from al-Qusayr before rebel forces seized it, Syrian army sources said on Sunday.
At least 150 armored vehicles carrying hundreds of Hezbollah fighters left the city, the sources said. Israel bombed one of the convoys as it was departing, one source said.
There was no comment from Jerusalem. In a statement late Thursday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel “is not intervening in the internal conflict in Syria.”
The statement came after the army said it would bolster its troop presence along the Syrian border with the Golan Heights as rebel groups moved in on the area. The Israel Defense Forces also said it was helping United Nations peacekeepers on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights repel an attack by gunmen near the town of Hader, close to the Israeli border.
The loss of a foothold in Syria would mark a major blow to Hezbollah, which has relied on the country as a main conduit to Iran. Both Tehran and Hezbollah, together with Russia, were key allies that helped Assad repel earlier rebel advances, but all three have hesitated to answer his pleas for help beating back the insurgents.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that the organization’s fighters had been told to abandon posts in and around Homs and outside Damascus as well. Some were sent back to Lebanon, while others redeployed to Latakia, which Assad is widely expected to attempt to hold on to.
In Homs, the insurgency announced late Saturday that it had taken over the city
The city’s capture was a major victory for the rebels, who had already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began November 27. Analysts said rebel control of Homs would be a game-changer.
The pro-government Sham FM news outlet reported that government forces took positions outside Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies withdrew from the city.
Thousands of Homs residents poured onto the streets after the army withdrew from the central city, dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free” and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad.”
Rebels fired into the air in celebration, and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control has collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the military.
The fall of Homs gives the insurgents control over Syria’s strategic heartland and a key highway crossroads, severing Damascus from the coastal region that is the stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base.
Homs’ capture is also a powerful symbol of the rebel movement’s dramatic comeback in the 13-year-old conflict. Swathes of Homs were destroyed by grueling siege warfare between the rebels and the army years ago. The fighting ground down the insurgents, who were forced out.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the main rebel leader, called the capture of Homs a historic moment and urged fighters not to harm “those who drop their arms”.
Rebels freed thousands of detainees from the city prison. Security forces left in haste after burning their documents.
Published in 12/08/2024 08h12
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