The offensive of anti-government rebels is ongoing in Syria and they are reporting on new territories they are taking over. On Saturday, they said they were about 20 kilometers away from Damascus. The ruling regime argues that the security forces have created a “very strong military cordon” around the capital. Meanwhile, militants said they had entered Homs, a key city in the west of the country.
When reporting on the successes of rebel forces in Syria, Reuters cited two representatives of these forces and an officer of the Bashar al-Assad regime, who confirmed the withdrawal of the army from the city of Al-Qunaytira.
The rebel commander Hasan Abdul Ghany announced the capture of the city of As-Sanamayn in the south of the country. He reported that his forces were approaching the southern outskirts of Damascus.
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According to AFP, Syria's Interior Minister Mohammed al-Rahmoun said on state television that government security forces had formed a “very strong military cordon” around the country's capital and no one would be able to get through it.
Statue of Bashar al-Assad's father toppled
At the same time, in the town of Jeramana – part of the Damascus metropolitan area and 3 kilometers from the capital – a crowd of protesters gathered at the monument of Hafez al-Assad, former president and father of the current president.
Those gathered toppled the monument. One of them then climbed on a pedestal and waved a flag.
There were chants, whistles and shouts, including the words: “Down with Bashar al-Assad, Syria lives on.”
A statue of Bashar al-Assad's father near Damascus was toppledReuters
The rebels entered a key city in the west of the country
The Associated Press reported that the Syrian army withdrew from parts of the south of the country on Saturday, leaving more areas, including two provincial centers, under rebel control.
The regime's military left the provinces of Dara and Sweida. The army of Bashar al-Assad's regime has deployed large forces to defend the key city of Homs in the west of the country. On Saturday evening, Syrian rebels announced that they had entered the city and had “completely liberated it.”
Within campaign that has been going on for over a week the rebels have already captured, among others, the country's second largest city, Aleppo, and Hama, with approximately half a million inhabitants.
The current fighting is the most serious clashes in Syria since 2020, when the front line in the civil war that has been going on since 2011 was frozen.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/MOHAMMED AL RIFAI