syria civil war- India TV Hindi — Image Source: AP
Civil war has broken out in Syria

Amid the civil war in Syria, rebels have captured many big cities. Syrian opposition activists and a rebel commander made this claim on Saturday. On the other hand, information also came to light that the President has fled the country. Syrian state media have denied rumors spread on social media that President Basar al-Assad has left the country. He said he was discharging his duties in the capital Damascus. Let us tell you that this is the first time that rebels in the country have reached the outskirts of the Syrian capital after 2018.

The fighting between anti-government forces and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces is now intensifying. Early Sunday, rebels announced they had taken full control of the key city of Homs, launching a major assault on President al-Assad’s 24-year-long rule. Not only this, while celebrating their victory, the rebels opened fire in the air and pulled down posters of the Syrian President.

Know the situation till now in 10 points

The rebel attack comes after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern Syria on Saturday, leaving much of the country under the control of opposition fighters, including two provincial capitals.

Rami Abdurahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said rebels are now active in the Damascus suburbs of Madamiya, Jaramana and Daraya and are advancing. He said opposition fighters on Saturday were also advancing from eastern Syria toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta.

Abdurrahman said Hassan Abdul-Ghani, a rebel commander, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final phase” of their campaign to encircle Damascus. Rebels are advancing towards Damascus from southern Syria.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern Syria on Saturday, leaving much of the country under the control of opposition fighters, including two provincial capitals. The army and opposition war monitor gave this information.

The withdrawal of troops from Darara and Sweida provinces comes as the Syrian army has sent a large number of reinforcements to defend Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, as rebels advance to its outskirts. The Britain-based Observatory said Syrian troops had withdrawn from both southern provinces and were sending reinforcements to Homs, where fighting was expected.

The Syrian army said in a statement on Saturday that it had redeployed troops to Sweida and Darara after militants attacked their positions. Rebels had captured Hama, Syria’s fourth largest city. The army had said that it had withdrawn from there to avoid fighting inside the city and to save the lives of civilians.

Rebels led by the Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) have pledged to march on Homs and the capital Damascus. HTS chief Abu Mohammed al-Golani said in an exclusive interview with CNN from Syria on Thursday that the aim of this attack is to oust Assad’s government from power.

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen has called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition” in Syria. Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the talks in Switzerland would discuss the implementation of a UN resolution calling for a Syrian-led political process.

Resolution number 2254, passed in 2015, called for the establishment of a governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and holding elections under the supervision of the United Nations. Qatar’s top diplomat Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of a decline in conflict incidents in recent years to solve the country’s problems.

Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels had advanced and said they posed a real threat to Syria’s “territorial integrity.” He said that if no readiness is shown to start the political process then the conflict could cause a lot of damage.
(Input-PTI)