சிரிய வசந்தம்- Rebels make gains in southern Syria

 

Syrian rebel groups reported gains in the country’s south on Saturday, advancing in Daraa, the city known as the birthplace of the country’s 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, and putting pressure on the capital Damascus.

The Syrian army said that its forces in the southwestern cities of Deraa and Sweida had “redeployed” to new positions after rebel fighters had “attacked the army’s checkpoints and military points."

The Southern Operations Room, a newly announced rebel faction in the south, announced a curfew in Daraa overnight Friday. Unverified videos posted online showed a statue of former president Hafez al-Assad being toppled in the city. The Syrian state news agency SANA said that “the sounds heard in some areas of the southern Damascus countryside are of long-range targeting and shooting at terrorist gatherings in Daraa.”

The relationship of the southern rebels with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist faction that made stunning gains in the north over the past week, remains unclear.

HTS said on Saturday that its forces had captured the city of al-Sanamayn, north of Daraa, and were about 12 miles away from the “southern gate” of the Damascus.

The group’s forces have also been closing in on Homs, a strategic choke point north of the capital. If HTS captures Homs, Syria’s third largest city, it will mark a significant strategic victory, as Assad-held Damascus will be cut off from the coast and what remains of the regime’s territory will be split in two. It could solidify the rebel group’s gains and moving it closer to taking the capital after capturing Aleppo and then Hama, as the 13-year conflict reignited.

Here are other key developments

• The U.S. Embassy in Syria on Saturday urged U.S. citizens to leave “now while commercial options remain available in Damascus,” as the Islamist rebel group makes rapid gains against President Assad’s forces and closes in on the strategically important city of Homs. The situation “continues to be volatile and unpredictable with active clashes between armed groups throughout the country,” the embassy alert said.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday spoke with the Turkish Foreign Minister about developments in Syria and stressed the “importance of protecting civilians, including members of minority groups,” a readout of the call said. Turkey is the most important outside power supporting the rebel side in the Syrian civil war.
• The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA warned that as hostilities in Syria expand, “civilians, including humanitarian workers, are facing grave threats to their safety.” At least 370,000 people have been displaced since the escalation of hostilities, the agency said.