ASSAD’s reign of terror over Syria could end within days when rebels enter Damascus and capture several major cities with little resistance.
Western officials have suggested that President Bashar al-Assad may finally be ousted as rebels shamed the dictator by releasing pictures of him in Speedos found in his seized palace.
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A statue of Hafez al-Assad has been toppled in a district of Damascus, footage on social networks shows
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Motorized rebel troops advance towards HomsCredit: Getty
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Vladimir Putin’s ally Bashar al-Assad could be ousted Credit: Reuters
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Rebels also shamed Assad by releasing images found in his seized palace in AleppoCredit: Twitter/X
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These pictures show dictator Assad in his Speedos Credit: Twitter/X
Rebels coming from the north yesterday took control of the country’s third largest city, Homs, on the way to Damascus.
Rebels attacking from the south now claim to control the southern neighborhood of Darayya as they inch closer to ousting the dictator.
The militants’ lightning advance has been unprecedented – seizing key cities, towns and now parts of the capital within days as the regime crumbles.
An anonymous US official predicted the dictator’s rule could be overthrown in five to 10 days, while another suggested he could be removed next week, Reuters reports.
Homs proved to be a major loss for Assad because of its geographical importance.
The city lies at the crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean, meaning the dictator and his troops have lost access to one of their coastal strongholds and to a Russian air and naval base.
This huge victory for the rebels left Assad in control of only three of the 14 provincial capitals, namely Damascus, Tartus and Latakia.
Another big blow and embarrassment for the dictator was the rebels who took over his palace in Aleppo last week.
They discovered and published a photo of Assad in barley clothes posing for a picture in Speedos as a young man.
The picture shows the warmonger posing with three other people dressed in bathing suits.
Syrian rebels celebrate in the streets after capturing Hama
The shocking and unexpected advance of the rebels happened without any major resistance from the dictator or his allies.
Residents of some Damascus suburbs said troops had left their posts and dressed in civilian clothes as rebel groups urged Assad’s supporters to defect.
A statue of Assad’s father Hafez was toppled in the eastern Damascus suburb of Jaraman, footage on social media showed.
Protesters tore the head off a huge bust, just six miles from the city centre, before attacking posters of Assad and demanding security forces leave the area.
Assad’s family fled to Russia, and Egypt asked the tyrant to form a government in exile, writes the Wall Street Journal.
But Assad the butcher claims he is still in the capital working, the Syrian state news agency said, as rebels attack him.
The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, says that the situation in the country is changing minute by minute and has called for peace talks.
Regime forces have withdrawn from a Syrian air force base in southwest Damascus as rebels also attack a prison.
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A fighter in Hama celebrates the capture of the city Credit: Getty
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Rebel fighters launched a lightning attack as regime troops withdrewCredit: AFP
This is the first time Assad has been militarily challenged in the city since 2018, after the civil war began in 2011.
His 24-year reign appears to be coming to an end as his own troops flee and the rebels breathe down his neck.
The Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HST) Islamist group and its allies launched an offensive against the Assad government from the northwestern part of the country last week.
They quickly captured Aleppo and continued to advance south – breaking through the defenses and entering the key city of Homs on Saturday.
But southern insurgents, known as the Southern Operations Room, rose up at the same time and struck north in a coordinated offensive with HTS.
Towns in the south have been handed over to local rebels as regime forces retreat to protect Damascus.
Syrian dictator Assad, who used nerve gas on his own people in 2013, still holds parts of western and central Syria.
But that may not matter if Assad is forced out of Damascus, captured or killed by rebels who have entered the city.
Militants from the south captured the southern capital of Daraa on Friday night, allowing government forces to retreat back to Damascus.
For the past three days, these rebels have continued to capture smaller villages and towns on the road to the capital as government forces retreat.
About 2,000 of Assad’s soldiers fled across the border into Iraq.
The rebels now control Syria’s border with Israel and almost the entire southwest of the country.
Southern rebels claim they also hold a number of towns around Damascus.
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A rebel fighter sits in the back of a vehicle in HomsCredit: Reuters
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A man is standing where the head of Hafez was a few moments agoCredit: X/@malteseherald
Earlier, the Syrian army said it was moving south, not admitting territorial losses, and denied withdrawing from areas near Damascus.
In a statement, they said: “Our forces operating in Daraa and as-Suwayda have carried out redeployment, repositioning and established a strong and cohesive defense and security cordon in that direction.”
But the war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “the whole area of Damascus” had seen regime forces withdraw.
The Syrian army denied the claim of withdrawal around Damascus.
The spokesman labeled the claim “a false media campaign … by armed terrorist organizations … aimed at spreading panic and fear among civilians around Damascus.”
Since HTS’ attack on Aleppo a week ago, government defenses have crumbled across the country at breakneck speed.
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A rebel fighter stands in the center of Hama after being captured on ThursdayCredit: Getty
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Poster of Assad with a smashed face Credit: Reuters
Rebels rose up in places where the rebellion had long seemed over, such as Daraa – which was the cradle of the 2011 revolution.
In cities captured by the rebels, statues, signs and pictures of the Assad family are being toppled and shot at.
Meanwhile, HST is now bearing down on the city of Homs – the site of a brutal three-year siege at the start of the civil war.
Government defenses are focused on Homs, with state television and Syrian military sources reporting massive airstrikes on rebel positions and a wave of reinforcements arriving to dig in around the city.
The HST broke through that defense and has now entered the northern and eastern part of the city, reports Reuters.
On Thursday, HST captured the key city of Hama, allowing them to move further down the road to Homs and capture the center of the country.
Another rebel group seized the historic desert city of Palmyra after government troops withdrew to defend Homs.
Assad also lost the eastern city of Deir al-Zor to the rebels.
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A truck pulls the head of a toppled statue of Assad’s father Hafez al-Assad in HamaCredit: AFP
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A fighter stands in front of a picture of Bashar al-Assad riddled with bullets Credit: AP
Earlier in Syria’s civil war, Assad was rescued by Russia and Iran who used their proxy forces and air superiority to strike back at the rebels.
But Vladimir Putin has no plan to save Assad and sees no such plan as government troops continue to withdraw from the fight, Bloomberg reports.
The Kremlin has helped Assad with airstrikes to defend against this offensive, but is too invested in Ukraine to throw much weight behind its ally.
It is not yet clear what will happen to the two Russian military bases in the country: the Khmeimim air base and the Tartus naval base.
Russia has withdrawn its ships from Tartus, home of its Mediterranean fleet, but claims they are for exercises.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed yesterday that Russia “is trying to do everything not to allow terrorists to prevail, even if they say they are no longer terrorists.”
Meanwhile, Iran has begun pulling its military commanders out of the country as another of its allied forces crumbles.
HST rebels said they were “in front of the walls” of Homs after capturing the last village on its northern edge late Friday.
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A warplane flies over the village of Homs Credit: Reuters
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Rebel fighters pray in the village of Homs Credit: Reuters
Inside Homs, a resident told Reuters the situation had been normal until Friday but had become more tense with the distinct sound of airstrikes and gunfire and pro-Assad paramilitary groups setting up checkpoints.
A resident said: “They are sending a message to people to keep order and not to get excited and not expect Homs to go away easily.”
Taking Homs, a key crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean, would cut Damascus off from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect.
A Syrian military officer said there was a lull in fighting on Saturday morning after a night of intense airstrikes against the rebels.
Ahead of the rebel advance, thousands of people fled Homs for the coastal regions of Latakia and Tartus, government strongholds, residents and witnesses said.
On Saturday afternoon, President-elect Donald Trump said the US should have “nothing to do” with the rebellion in Syria.
The Republican strongman urged the current US government not to act, saying Syria is “not our friend”.
On his own platform Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Syria is a mess, but it’s not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET US PLAY OUT. DO NOT INTERFERE!”
Trump says US should stay out of ‘mess’ in Syria
In a post for Truth Social, the future US president, who was in Paris yesterday, said the US should stay out of Syria.
He posted: “Opposition fighters in Syria, in an unprecedented move, have completely taken over a number of towns, in a highly coordinated offensive, and are now on the outskirts of Damascus, apparently preparing to take a very big step towards removing Assad.
“Russia, being so tied up in Ukraine and with losses of over 600,000 troops there, seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years.
“This is where former President Obama refused to honor his commitment to protect the RED LINE IN THE SAND, and all hell broke loose, and Russia stepped in.
“But now, like maybe Assad himself, they’re being forced out and that might actually be the best thing that could happen to them.
“There was never much use for Russia in Syria, other than making Obama look really stupid.
“Anyway, Syria is a mess, but it’s not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT INTERFERE!”
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Anti-regime armed groups prepare to attack HomsCredit: Getty
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Portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad riddled with bullets Credit: AFP
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