The Syrian army withdrew from much of southern Syria yesterday, leaving more areas of the country, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters, the military and an opposition war monitor said.
The redeployment away from the provinces of Daraa and Sweida came as Syria’s military sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts.
The rapid advances by insurgents are a stunning reversal of fortunes for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who appears to be largely on his own, with erstwhile allies preoccupied with other conflicts.
Photo: Reuters
His chief international backer, Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine, and Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up his forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syria war monitor, reported yesterday that Iran’s military advisers have started leaving Syria, adding that Iran-backed fighters in eastern Syria, mainly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, have withdrawn into central Syria.
The shock offensive began on Nov. 27 led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth largest city.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani told CNN in an exclusive interview on Thursday that the aim of the offensive is to overthrow al-Assad’s government.
If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, al-Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where the president has wide support.
A source speaking on condition of anonymity yesterday said Hezbollah has sent 2,000 fighters into Syria near the border “to defend its positions there,” but it “has not yet participated in any battles” with Syrian rebels.
After the fall of the cities of Daraa and Sweida early yesterday, Syrian government forces remain in control of five provincial capitals — Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, as well as Latakia and Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.
Tartus is home to the only Russian naval base outside the former Soviet Union while Latakia is home to a major Russian air base.
On Friday, US-backed fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured wide parts of the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq and the provincial capital that carries the same name.
The capture of areas in Deir el-Zour is a blow to Iran’s influence in the region as the area is the gateway to the corridor linking the Mediterranean to Iran, a supply line for Iran-backed fighters, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
With the capture of a main border crossing with Iraq by the SDF and after opposition fighters took control of the Naseeb border crossing to Jordan in southern Syria, the Syrian government’s only gateway to the outside world is the Masnaa border crossing with Lebanon.
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