Civil war in Syria: Activists: Rebels surround places in front of Damascus

According to activists, Syrian rebels have already surrounded places in the area surrounding the capital Damascus. While the government troops say they are “repositioning themselves”, the insurgents are also making further territorial gains in the south of the country and on the border with Israel. Syrian head of state Bashar al-Assad is coming under increasing pressure.

Assad’s official residence in Damascus has already been forced to deny rumors that the president had fled. “We confirm that the Syrian President continues his work and his national and constitutional tasks from the capital Damascus,” the statement said. There are also no short-term visits abroad, it said.

The aim of the insurgents is to overthrow the government

Last week, the civil war in Syria suddenly flared up again with a rebel offensive led by the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). In a very short time, the group took over many areas in the northwest of the country, some of them without a fight. The aim of the insurgents is to overthrow the government. Other groups later joined in around the south of the country. They are now standing in front of Damascus while the HTS units advance from the north towards the strategically important city of Homs.

The conflict began in 2011 with protests against Assad’s government. Security forces took a tough approach. The spiral of violence resulted in a civil war with international involvement in which Russia, Iran, Turkey and the USA pursued their own interests. Around 14 million people were displaced. According to UN estimates, more than 300,000 civilians have died so far. A political solution has not been in sight for years.

Soldiers move away from posts near Damascus

Syrian government soldiers have left posts near the capital Damascus, according to activists. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government troops had withdrawn from the town of Artuz, about 15 kilometers southwest of Damascus. The military did not initially comment.

Local opposition forces that have joined the rebel offensive have surrounded several villages in the area, it said. One of their goals is to free prisoners from a military prison north of Damascus. The Observatory, based in Great Britain, obtains its information from local informants.

Symbolic city of Daraa under opposition control

The Syrian military had previously withdrawn from Daraa and Suweida in the southwest of the country. The Syrian state agency Sana reported, citing the military, that government troops were repositioning themselves after “terrorist elements” attacked army checkpoints.

According to the Observatory, Daraa province is now fully under the control of local opposition forces. They also took almost complete control of the neighboring province of Suweida. The first Syrian protests broke out in the city of Daraa in March 2011.

Armed clashes in Homs

Syrian rebels say they are already in action in the strategically important city of Homs. A statement from the Islamist group HTS said forces stationed behind enemy lines had begun “special operations” in the city area. At the same time there is a massive attack from several sides.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that there were armed clashes in Homs. Until now, it was unclear whether the rebel alliance had enough fighters to take Homs with its approximately 1.4 million inhabitants.

Syrian government soldiers flee to Iraq

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Syrian army soldiers fled to Iraq. The Iraqi state news agency INA reported, citing an unnamed security source, that the soldiers had requested entry through the Al-Kaim border crossing. They were taken in and cared for.

Meanwhile, the Qatari news channel Al-Jazeera quoted a spokesman for the Iraqi government as saying that 2,000 soldiers from the Syrian army had already arrived in Iraq with full equipment.

Iran denies evacuation of diplomats from Syria

Meanwhile, Iran rejected as false reports that diplomats had already been withdrawn from Syria. The embassy in Damascus will continue its work as usual, said Foreign Office spokesman Ismail Baghai, according to the Internet portal Iran Nuances.

The New York Times reported that Iranian diplomats and military advisers had left Syria. The Foreign Office spokesman said last week that Iranian diplomats and military personnel remained in Syria and supported President Assad until the end.

Baghai’s statements were met with skepticism in Tehran. Accordingly, observers assume that an evacuation of the diplomats has already been completed in order to bring them to safety as a precautionary measure.

Israel sends more soldiers to the border with Syria

In view of the advance of Syrian rebels, the Israeli army also strengthened its troops in the Golan Heights in the immediate vicinity of the border with Israel. “In accordance with the situation assessment, the IDF is calling up additional forces for defense tasks in the Golan Heights region on the Israeli-Syrian border,” the army said on Telegram. When asked, the army did not initially provide any information about the extent of the reinforcements. It was the second announcement of this kind within 24 hours.

Israel was reacting to the withdrawal of the Syrian military from Daraa and Suweida in southwest Syria. The two cities lie just a few kilometers east of the Golan Heights, which Israel conquered in the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed in 1981. Many states do not recognize this.