President Bashar Assad’s office has denied rumors that he plans to abandon Damascus to the terrorists
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters operate in Aleppo province, Syria, November 27, 2024 © Getty Images / Izzettin Kasim
Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadists and other anti-government militias continued their advance towards Damascus on Saturday, with HTS reportedly reaching the city’s suburbs and the US-sponsored Free Syrian Army (FSA) seizing the ancient site of Palmyra.
HTS, a group led by a former Al-Qaeda commander and previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra, launched a surprise offensive from the opposition-held province of Idlib in northern Syria last week, swiftly driving the Syrian Army from Aleppo and entering the cities of Hama and Homs on the road south to Damascus.
With Kurdish militants battling government forces in Deir-ez-Zor to the east and Palmyra falling to the FSA, several Western media outlets have claimed that Assad is preparing to flee the country.
The president’s office, however, insists that he has no plans to leave Damascus. He has vowed to “eliminate” the rampaging jihadists and to punish their “sponsors and supporters.”
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07 December 2024
23:42 GMT
Washington has “no intention to affect the war’s outcome”, whether to support the Islamists or Assad, The New York Times wrote, citing the US President’s Joe Biden aides. US intelligence agencies are also monitoring supposed chemical weapons storage sites in Syria, looking for signs that Assad forces are preparing to employ them against jihadists, the newspaper added.
- 23:24 GMT
Jihadists have entered the city of Al-Qusayr in the Homs countryside on the border with Lebanon, Al Jazeera wrote quoting Islamist groups.
- 22:07 GMT
Eight countries, including Russia and Turkey, have issued a joint statement calling for a political solution and the protection of civilians in Syria. After a meeting in Doha, the foreign ministers warned that the crisis in Syria threatens both regional and international security.
- 21:19 GMT
The Syrian army sent additional reinforcements to the Lebanese border, to the north of the city of Al-Qaa, a Lebanese military source told RT
- 21:17 GMT
The Syrian army has withdrawn its forces from the city of Homs and is now located near the bridge near the city of Al Qusayr, Syrian sources confirmed to RT
- 20:40 GMT
HTS fighters have captured a prison in Homs and freed hundreds of inmates, Reuters has reported, citing sources within the terrorist group. Unconfirmed video footage shared on social media showed dozens of men who appeared to be inmates leaving the facility with their belongings.
Prisoners are free after the liberation of Homs Central Prison in Homs Governorate, Syria. pic.twitter.com/ssbR0zFcAf
— Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول (@FARED_ALHOR) December 7, 2024
- 20:20 GMT
“There is no truth” to reports of HTS fighters entering Homs, the Syrian Defense Ministry has said in a statement. According to the ministry, the situation in the city is “secure and stable,” with government forces “deployed around the city and positioned in impregnable defensive lines and reinforced with various types of weapons.” It is unclear whether some of the jihadists bypassed Homs en route to Damascus, or whether the capital is being solely attacked by FSA units.
- 20:15 GMT
Syrian Army units have withdrawn from some suburbs of Damascus, Al Jazeera has reported, citing unnamed local sources. Among the settlements abandoned are several towns and villages in the Ghouta area, the Qatari network reported. Ghouta has been under government control since 2018.
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