Damascus: The departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from Damascus, as rebel forces advance towards the capital, marks a significant turn of events, according to media reports.

Earlier on Saturday, the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) claimed significant gains in Damascus after announcing on Friday that its forces had entered Homs, Syria’s third-largest city and a key junction connecting Damascus to Assad’s coastal strongholds, war monitor and local media reported.

Reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, confirmed that HTS and its allied factions have seized control of several neighbourhoods in Homs.

The Observatory stated that police at Homs’ central prison reportedly opened the gates, releasing all inmates amidst the chaos.

Videos circulating on social media from the region showed a statue of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s father and predecessor, being torn down.

Meanwhile, pro-government radio station Sham FM reported that the Syrian army is redeploying units on the outskirts of Homs. However, it did not clarify if any urban areas had been abandoned.

Homs, a former bastion of opposition forces in the early years of Syria’s civil war, had been under government control since 2014.

However, the recent sudden and significant rebel advances, with HTS forces seizing Aleppo, all of Idlib province in northern Syria, and the western-central cities of Hama and Homs, culminating in their push towards Damascus, have caught many by surprise.

The intensifying conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale, with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reporting that over 370,000 people have been displaced in just one week of fighting.

The deteriorating security situation raises serious concerns about the future stability of Syria as rebels continue their offensive and government forces attempt to hold their ground.

Meanwhile, India has also issued an advisory for its citizens, warning against travelling to Syria amid the unrest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

–IANS
Photo Source: Video grab