By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Timour Azhari
AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) -Syrian rebels battled authorities forces for management of the important thing metropolis of Homs on Saturday and superior in direction of the capital Damascus as entrance strains collapsed throughout the nation, throwing President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule into the stability.
For the reason that rebels’ sweep into Aleppo every week in the past, authorities defences have crumbled at dizzying velocity as insurgents seized a string of main cities and rose up in locations the place the revolt had lengthy appeared over.
The dual threats to strategically important Homs and the capital Damascus now pose an existential menace to Assad’s many years of rule in Syria and the continued affect there of his important regional backer Iran.
A Homs resident, and armed forces and insurgent sources stated the insurgents had breached authorities defences from the north and east of town. A insurgent commander stated they’d taken management of a military camp and villages outdoors town.
State tv reported that the insurgents had not penetrated into Homs though it stated they have been on town outskirts, the place it stated the navy was placing them with artillery and drones.
Insurgents have seized virtually your entire southwest inside 24 hours, they usually have superior to inside 30 km (20 miles) of Damascus as authorities forces fell again, rebels stated.
Underscoring the potential for an rebellion within the capital, protesters in a Damascus suburb tore down a statue of Assad’s father and ripped it to items. In different suburbs troopers become civilian garments and abandoned their posts, residents stated.
Assad stays in Damascus, Syria’s state information company stated.
The tempo of occasions has shocked Arab capitals and raised fears of a brand new wave of regional instability.
Syria’s civil warfare, which erupted in 2011 as an rebellion towards Assad’s rule, dragged in large outdoors powers, created area for jihadist militants to plot assaults around the globe and despatched hundreds of thousands of refugees into neighbouring states.
Assad had lengthy relied on allies to subdue the rebels, with bombing by Russian warplanes whereas Iran despatched allied forces together with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi militia to bolster the Syrian navy and storm rebel strongholds.
However Russia has been centered on the warfare in Ukraine since 2022 and Hezbollah has suffered large losses in its personal gruelling warfare with Israel, considerably limiting its potential or that of Iran to bolster Assad.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stated the U.S. shouldn’t be concerned within the battle and may “let it play out”.
RUSSIA, IRAN, TURKEY
The international ministers of Russia, Iran and the principle rebels’ backer Turkey met on Saturday and agreed on the significance of Syria’s territorial integrity and on restarting a political course of, they stated.
However there was no indication they agreed on any concrete steps, with the state of affairs inside Syria altering by the hour.
Russia has a naval base and airbase in Syria that haven’t solely been essential for its assist of Assad, but in addition for its potential to undertaking affect within the Mediterranean and Africa.
Moscow has been supporting authorities forces with intense air strikes however it was not clear if it may simply step up this marketing campaign.
Iran has stated it will think about sending forces to Syria, however any fast additional help would seemingly depend upon Hezbollah and Iraqi militias.
The Lebanese group despatched some “supervising forces” to Homs on Friday however any vital deployment would danger publicity to Israeli airstrikes, Western officers stated.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias are on excessive alert, with 1000’s of closely armed fighters able to deploy to Syria, a lot of them amassed close to the border. Iraq doesn’t search navy intervention in Syria, a authorities spokesman stated on Friday.
Britain warned Assad that any chemical weapons use was a purple line and can be met with “acceptable motion”.
BATTLE FOR HOMS
The Homs resident stated he had seen the rebels advance previous a Syrian Air Drive base within the north of town that was thought-about a serious defensive space. The resident later stated combating was audible within the metropolis outskirts.
An opposition determine in contact with insurgent command and a Syrian military supply each additionally stated the insurgents have been inside town.
Seizing Homs, an essential crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean, would reduce off Damascus from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, and from Russia’s air and naval base.
Within the south, the fast collapse of presidency management may enable a concerted assault on the capital, the seat of Assad’s energy.
The Syrian navy pulled again so far as Saasa 30 km (20 miles) from Damascus to regroup, a Syrian military officer stated.
Jarmana, the place protesters pulled down a statue of Hafez al-Assad, the present president’s father, is within the metropolis’s southern suburbs. Troopers have been deserting within the former insurgent stronghold of Daraya and in Mezzeh, close to a serious airbase, residents stated.
The principle insurgent group, the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, stated it had an obligation to guard governmental, worldwide and U.N. workplaces in Syria.
In an indication of presidency forces’ collapse within the east, round 2,000 Syrian troopers crossed the border into Iraq to hunt sanctuary, the mayor of Iraqi border city al-Qaem stated.
Syrian Kurdish fighters had captured japanese Deir el-Zor on Friday, jeopardising Assad’s land connection to allies in Iraq.
