BBC NEWS | Published December 8, 2024
The mood in Damascus appears to be one of confusion and fear, with many people unable to find out exactly what is going on as rebel factions approach ever closer.
In several suburbs, symbols of the power of the Assad dynasty have been torn down or toppled.
The interior ministry says it’s creating a ring of steel around the capital. But government forces have notably failed to provide any such defence in cities, towns and villages that have fallen to rebel factions across the country.
Rumours are swirling over the whereabouts of President Bashar al-Assad, with people logging flights in and out of Damascus to work out whether he might have left.
His office has denied all such reports, saying he’s still at work in Damascus, but there has been no sign of him.
Syria has remained a divided country, with the deep scars of the years of civil war unhealed, despite the apparent stalemate and status quo that had been in place for around four years until just a week-and-a-half ago.
Assad’s pariah status had come to an end among his fellow Arab leaders, but no progress had been made within Syria towards building a viable future for its people in the aftermath of war.
But the presence of President Assad had seemed to be a seal, however unsatisfactory, on the deadly conflict that had raged for years.
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SOURCE: www.bbc.com
RELATED: Bashar al-Assad flees as rebels enter Damascus
JAGO NEWS24 | Published December 8, 2024
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane and left Damascus for an unknown destination on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.
“We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners and releasing their chains and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison,” said the rebels.
Sednaya is a large military prison on the outskirts Damascus where the Syrian government detained thousands.
Just hours earlier, rebels announced they had gained full control of the key city of Homs after only a day of fighting, leaving Assad’s 24-year rule dangling by a thread.
Intense sounds of shooting were heard in the centre of the Damascus, two residents said on Sunday, although it was not immediately clear what the source of the shooting was.
In rural areas southwest of the capital, local youths and former rebels took advantage of the loss of authority to come to the streets in acts of defiance against the Assad family’s authoritarian rule.
Thousands of Homs residents poured onto the streets after the army withdrew from the central city, dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free” and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad”.
Rebels fired into the air in celebration, and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control has collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the military.
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SOURCE: www.jagonews24.com
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