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A Syrian opposition military monitor and two senior army officers said early Sunday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had left the country as rebels claimed to have entered Damascus following a stunning advance into the country, with residents of the capital reporting the sounds of shooting and explosions.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told The Associated Press that Assad had flown out of Damascus early Sunday. Reuters reported the same, citing two senior army officers.
State television in Iran, Assad's main backer in Syria's years of war, said he had left the capital. It cited Qatar's Al Jazeera news network for the information and did not elaborate.
There was no immediate official statement from the Syrian government.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government is ready to “shake hands” with the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.
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“I am in my house and I have not left and it is because of my belonging to this country,” Jalali said in a video statement. He said he would go to his office to continue work in the morning and urged Syrian citizens not to deface public property.
He did not comment on reports that Assad had left the country.
An Associated Press journalist in Damascus reported seeing groups of armed residents along a road on the outskirts of the capital and hearing gunshots. The city's main police headquarters appeared abandoned, its door left ajar with no officers outside.
Another AP journalist captured footage of an abandoned army checkpoint, where uniforms were dumped on the ground under a poster with Assad's face.
Residents of Sofia reported shooting and explosions. Footage aired on opposition-linked media showed a tank in one of the capital's central squares as a small group of people gathered to celebrate. Calls of “God is great” rang out from the mosques.
It was the first time opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops captured the area after a years-long siege.
The pro-government Sham FM radio reported that Damascus airport had been evacuated and all flights had been grounded.
The rebels also announced that they had entered the the infamous Saidnaya military prison north of the capital and there they “released our captives”.
The previous evening, opposition forces captured the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, after government forces abandoned it. The city sits at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria's coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, a stronghold of the Syrian leader and home to a strategic Russian naval base.
Sham FM reported that government forces had taken positions outside Syria's third-largest city, without giving details. Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian troops and members of various security agencies had withdrawn from the city, adding that rebels had entered parts of it.
Rebels announced later on Saturday that they had captured Homs. The capture of Homs is a major victory for the rebels, who have already captured the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began on November 27. Analysts said the fall of Homs to the rebels would be a game-changer.
The rebel move into Damascus came as the Syrian army withdrew from much of the country's south, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.
If Damascus falls to opposition forces, the government will have control over only two of 14 provincial capitals: Latakia and Tartus.
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The advance last week was among the biggest in years by opposition factions led by a group that traces its origins to al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations. As they advanced, the rebels – led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – met little resistance from the Syrian army.
The rebels' rapid gains, combined with a lack of support from Assad's former allies, pose the most serious threat to his rule since the war began.
The UN's special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called on Saturday for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition”. Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing every minute.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country is Assad's main international backer, said he was “sorry for the Syrian people”.
In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on provisions. Thousands rushed to the Syrian border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country.
Many shops in the capital were closed, a local resident told The Associated Press, and those that remained open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some stores were selling items at three times the price.
The UN said it was moving non-critical staff out of the country as a precaution.
Assad is isolated
Assad had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia is busy with its war in Ukraine. Lebanon's Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to support Assad's forces, has been weakened by the year-long conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies in the region aggravated by regular Israeli airstrikes.
US President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media on Saturday that the US should avoid military action in Syria.
Pedersen said the date for the talks in Geneva to implement UN Resolution 2254 would be announced later. The resolution, adopted in 2015, called for a Syrian-led political process that would begin with the creation of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with elections under UN supervision.
Later on Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries – including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran – along with Pedersen gathered on the sidelines of the Doha summit to discuss the situation in Syria.
In a statement released late Saturday, the participants reaffirmed their support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis “that would bring an end to hostilities and protect civilians.” They also agreed on the importance of strengthening international efforts to increase aid to the Syrian people.
The march of the insurgents
Abdurahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiya, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria to the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he said.
A rebel commander, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging service that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive, encircling Damascus.
HTS still controls much of northwestern Syria in 2017. established a “salvation government” to manage the day-to-day affairs of the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to reshape the group's image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, rejecting hardliners and pledging to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance.
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In a surprise offensive, Turkish-backed rebel forces in Syria have managed to capture several villages and towns, including the country's second-largest city, Aleppo, all with minimal resistance from government forces. Now, as they continue to push further south, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is left with a depleted army and his main allies embroiled in conflicts of their own. Karim Shaheen is the Middle East editor at New Lines magazine. He spoke with host Jayme Poisson about what the fall of Aleppo and renewed fighting in Syria means for the Syrian people and the region. For Front Burner transcripts, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts)
The shock offensive began on November 27, during which militants seized the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, and the central city of Hama, the country's fourth largest.
Opposition activists said on Saturday that a day earlier, rebels had entered Palmyra, home to priceless archaeological sites that have been in government hands since they were seized by the Islamic militant group ISIS in 2017.
To the south, Syrian troops have left much of Quneitra province, including the main town of Baath, activists said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government troops had withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces.
The Syrian army said in a statement on Saturday that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints were attacked by “terrorists”. The army said it was establishing a “strong and consistent defense and security belt in the area”, apparently to protect Damascus from the south.
The Syrian government has called the opposition terrorists since the outbreak of the conflict in March 2011.
