Syria Civil War: Rebels capture several cities, President flees the country? Know the situation in 10 points

Amid the civil war in Syria, rebels have captured several major 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 government media has denied rumors spread on social media that President Bashar al-Assad has left the country. He said that he is 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 army is now intensifying. Early on Sunday, rebels announced that they had gained full control of the major city of Homs, launching a major attack on President al-Assad’s 24-year-long rule. Not only this but celebrating their victory, the rebels fired bullets in the air and took down posters of the Syrian President.

Know the current situation in 10 points.

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

    

2. Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said rebels were now active and advancing in the Damascus suburbs of Madamiya, Jaramana, and Daraya. He said opposition fighters were also advancing from eastern Syria towards the Damascus suburb of Harasta on Saturday.
3. Abdurrahman said a rebel commander, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final phase” of their campaign to surround Damascus. The rebels are advancing towards Damascus from southern Syria.
4. Meanwhile, the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern Syria on Saturday, leaving more areas in the country, including two provincial capitals, under control of opposition fighters, the military and opposition war monitors said.
5. The withdrawal of troops from the Daraa and Sweida provinces comes as the Syrian army has sent in a large number of reinforcements to defend Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, as rebels reach its outskirts. The Britain-based Observatory said Syrian troops had withdrawn from both southern provinces and were sending reinforcements to Homs, where fighting is expected.
6. The Syrian army said in a statement on Saturday that it had redeployed troops to Sweida and Darara after militants attacked its checkpoints. Rebels had captured Hama, Syria’sfourth-largestt city. The army had said that it had withdrawn from there to avoid fighting inside the city and to save the lives of civilians.
7. Rebels led by the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) have vowed to march on Homs and the capital Damascus. HTS chief Abu Mohammad al-Golani said in an exclusive interview with CNN from Syria on Thursday that the attack aims to oust Assad’s government from power.
8. The 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.
9. Resolution 2254, passed in 2015, called for the establishment of a governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and elections under UN supervision. Qatar’s top diplomat Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani criticised Assad for failing to take advantage of a lull in conflict in recent years to solve the country’s problems.
10. 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 the conflict could cause “immense damage” if there was no urgency to start a political process. (Input-PTI)