Syrian opposition groups close in on Homs
Syrian opposition groups said they took control of the southern city of Daraa on December 7th, according to Reuters.
Daraa was the birth of the 2011 uprising against Syria’s ruler Bashar al-Assad, and is the fourth city his forces have lost control of in the last week.
Opposition sources said the military agreed to withdraw from Daraa under a deal giving army officials safe passage to the capital Damascus, about 100 km, or 60 miles, to the north.
There was no immediate comment from the military or Assad’s government, and Reuters could not independently verify opposition claims.
Daraa’s seizure followed opposition claims late on December 6th that they had advanced to the edge of Homs, a key crossroads between Damascus and the Mediterranean coast.
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Taking Homs would cut off the capital from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, and from a Russian naval base and air base.
A coalition of factions including Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, made a last call on Assad loyalists in Homs to defect.
Tahrir al-Sham is an armed political alliance headed by Al-Qaeda’s former branch in Syria, who were then known as Al-Nusra.
Ahead of the advance, thousands fled Homs towards the coastal regions of Latakia and Tartus, government strongholds, according to residents and witnesses.
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The SDF, a U.S.-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters, captured Deir el-Zor on December 6th, three Syrian sources told Reuters.
Opposition factions led by HTS seized Aleppo and Hama in the northwest and centre earlier in the offensive that began on November 27th.
Syria’s conflict killed more than 305,000 people between 2011 and 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Office said in 2022.
Reuters
