AFPRebels in southern Syria have reportedly taken control of most of Deraa, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
A Britain-based war monitor reported that “local forces” were able to take control of many military facilities there after “violent fighting” with government forces.
According to Reuters, rebel sources said an agreement had been reached to withdraw troops and allow military officials to travel safely to the capital Damascus, about 100 kilometers away.
The BBC could not independently verify the report, which claimed Islamist rebels in northern Syria had reached the outskirts of Homs.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a Britain-based war monitor, said on Friday that southern rebels control more than 90% of Deraa province, with only the Sanamain region still in government hands.
The city of Deraa has both strategic and symbolic importance. It is the capital and close to a major crossing on the Jordanian border, and is where pro-democracy protests took place in 2011. This is where more than 500,000 people lost their lives, sparking an ongoing civil war.
Jordan’s interior minister said the border was closed “due to the surrounding security situation in southern Syria.”
Meanwhile, government officials in the city of Suweidah, about 50km east of Deraa, reportedly fled the city due to clashes between security forces and militias from the minority Druze sect that dominates the area.
“People are seeing what’s happening in the rest of Syria as an opportunity to liberate Syria and bring down the regime,” Ryan Marouf, an activist and editor of the news website Suwayda 24, told Reuters. He said.
Elsewhere, Kurdish-led forces said they had captured the city of Deir Ezzor, a key government stronghold in the vast desert of Kurdish east.
It’s been just over a week since northern rebels launched their biggest blitz against the Syrian government in years, exposing the weaknesses of the Syrian army.
According to the United Nations, it is estimated that at least 370,000 people have been displaced so far due to the rebel offensive. The United Nations said the fighting was “exacerbating an already dire situation for civilians in the north.”
Some civilians are trapped in front-line areas unable to reach safer locations.
SOHR said more than 820 people, including 111 civilians, have been killed across the country since Islamist rebels began their offensive last week.
them Hama, north of Homs, was captured on Thursday. – It was the second major blow to President Assad, who lost control of Aleppo last week.
“Your time has come,” Abu Mohammed al-Zawrani, leader of the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), told Homs residents.
Rebels have been advancing south and Homs will be the next stop on their way to Damascus.
Terrified members of President Assad’s Alfa minority are rushing to leave Homs, with video footage showing roads clogged with cars.
The Syrian forces that led the attack said on Telegram, “Our forces have liberated the last village outside Homs and are now within the walls.”
The BBC could not confirm these movements, but SOHR had previously reported that rebels were within a few kilometers of the city.
SOHR said Russian warplanes bombed a bridge near Rastan in an attempt to slow the rebels’ advance.
It is unclear whether the Syrian army will be able to defend Homs after losing control of Hama after days of fighting.
The Defense Ministry denied claims it had withdrawn troops from the strategic city linking the capital Damascus with Alawite centers on the Mediterranean coast.
Alawites are a minority sect of Shia Muslims from the Assad family.
They have long formed the main support base for Assad’s rule and played a key role in the president’s rise to power.
Assad has vowed to “suppress” the rebels and has accused Western powers of trying to redraw the map of the region.
But analysts say he The military suffers from low morale, low pay and rank corruption. that A 50% increase in salaries has been announced in recent days, according to state news agency Sana.
Russia and Iran, the regime’s most important allies, have declared their continued support for Assad.
But they have not provided the kind of military support that has so far underpinned his rule, and Moscow is now urging Russians to leave the country.
The United States also on Friday advised its citizens to leave Syria “while commercial options remain available in Damascus.”
getty imagesThe Kremlin remains committed to the war in Ukraine and Iran has been weakened by Israel’s punitive campaign against Lebanon’s Hezbollah, its most powerful allied militia.
Lebanese and Israeli media reports say a small number of troops have crossed the border to strengthen Homs’ defenses, but Hezbollah fighters, who played a key role in maintaining the regime’s territory in Syria, are now largely absent from the battlefield. there is.
Russian and Iranian officials are expected to meet their Turkish counterparts this weekend to discuss their response to the Syrian civil war.
Turkey supports some rebel groups, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been pressuring Assad for months to find a political solution with the opposition.
He expressed support for the rebels’ recent advance and said the attacks would not have occurred if Assad had responded to his calls.
Analysts say this would hardly have happened without Ankara’s knowledge and approval.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani has been giving public speeches to soften his image and reassure Syrians and foreign leaders.
He emphasized his separation from the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda a few years ago, describing himself as a nationalist opposed to attacks from outside Syria and promising to protect minority communities.
Al Jawlani told CNN that the rebels’ goal is to overthrow the Assad regime and install a government that represents all Syrians.
HTS fighters and their allies previously captured Hama amid fierce fighting and freed prisoners from the central prison, while the military said it had redeployed troops outside the city.
Hama has a population of one million people and is 110km south of Aleppo, which rebels seized last week.
In Aleppo, a city of 2 million people, some public services and critical facilities, including hospitals, bakeries, power plants, water, internet and telecommunications, are disrupted or not functioning properly due to lack of supplies and personnel.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on “all those with influence to do their part” to end the civil war.
With additional reporting by Maia Davies
