Assad reportedly in Moscow after Damascus fall: Live Updates

 

The Syrian president has left the country amid jihadists’ swift offensive in several regions

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters operate in Aleppo province, Syria, November 27, 2024. ©  Getty Images / Izzettin Kasim

Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadists and other anti-government militias entered Damascus on Saturday, taking control over the Syrian capital. The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Bashar Assad has stepped down as Syrian president and left the country following negotiations with armed opposition groups amid the fall of Damascus to Islamist forces. Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow, as Russia has granted them asylum, a source in the Kremlin told agencies TASS and RIA.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad al-Jalali has already offered to cooperate “with any leadership chosen by the people,” also claiming that he remains in his home.

HTS, a group led by a former Al-Qaeda commander and previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra, launched a surprise offensive from the opposition-held province of Idlib in northern Syria last week.

Jihadists have already driven the Syrian Army from the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Al-Qusayr at the border with Lebanon.

Other opposition and militant groups operating in Syria also seized several parts of the country. The US-sponsored Free Syrian Army (FSA) has taken control of the ancient site of Palmyra, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also backed by the US have seized Deir ez-Zor.

• 09 December 2024

  07:12 GMT

  The Israeli military has been ordered to establish complete control over the buffer zone on the Syrian border in the Golan Heights, Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced. He added that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will seek to create a “security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terror infrastructure” in the southern part of the neighboring country.

  According to Katz, Israel also plans to “immediately prevent and thwart the renewal of the arms smuggling route from Iran to Lebanon through Syria, in Syrian territory and at the border crossing points.” West Jerusalem will continue to destroy “strategic weapons,” including various types of missiles and air defense systems in Syria, over fears they could fall into the wrong hands, he added.

• 06:31 GMT

  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the demise of Bashar Assad’s government, saying that Syria’s future is now in the Syrian people’s hands. “After 14 years of brutal war and the fall of the dictatorial regime, today the people of Syria can seize a… historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future,” he wrote on X. The UN remains committed to helping Syria achieve reconciliation, justice, freedom, and prosperity for all, he added. 

• 06:13 GMT

  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged the Syrian armed opposition “to respect human rights, take all precautions to protect civilians, and to uphold international humanitarian law,” adding that Washington supports a peaceful transition of power.

  The US, he added, will be closely monitoring the situation in the embattled country. “We have taken note of statements made by rebel leaders in recent days, but as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions,” Blinken said.

• 05:55 GMT

  Israel has carried out a new wave of strikes in Syria’s southern Da’ara province, unconfirmed local media reports claim, releasing a video of the attacks which apparently targeted ammunition depots. This came after the Jewish state moved into Syria, seizing the buffer zone on the Golan Heights which has been mostly occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.

• 05:28 GMT

  China “is closely following the situation in Syria” and hopes that the country will soon return to stability, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry has said. The official added that China has been helping its citizens leave the Middle Eastern country if they wish to and offering them advice on how to stay safe.
  

  “We urge relevant parties in Syria to ensure the safety and security of the Chinese institutions and personnel in Syria. The Chinese Embassy is still up and running and carrying out its duty in Syria,” the spokesperson noted.

• 05:02 GMT

  The Israeli Army has entered Syrian territory beyond the demilitarized zone between the two nations, the New York Times has reported, citing  Israeli officials speaking on condition of anonymity. 

  The incursion is the most significant since the 1973 war, even though Israel has been conducting covert operations on the ground and delivered airstrikes inside Syria for years, the newspaper said.

  On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he gave the army an order to take over “positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel,” but did not specify which. He claimed the deployment would be temporary.

  According to Times, the Israeli military has seized the mountain summit of Mount Hermon on the Syrian side of the border.

• 04:06 GMT

  Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, acknowledged that the history of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is “a source of concern,” given its active designation as a terrorist group by the US.

  The group that led a coalition of anti-Assad forces that seized Damascus “has had elements affiliated with groups that have American blood on their hands,” Sullivan told reporters at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

  At the same time, Sullivan said Washington should primarily be focused on ensuring that the renewed fighting in Syria would not usher in a resurgence of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and would “not lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.”

• 03:23 GMT

  US President Joe Biden has warned that the armed opposition in Syria had their own “grim record of terrorism.” 

  “They’re saying the right things now. But as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions,” the US president said during his address from the White House.

• 02:19 GMT

  The US has announced “dozens of precision airstrikes targeting known ISIS camps and operatives in central Syria.” 

  The strikes were aimed at ensuring that ISIS “does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria,” US Central Command said.

  “All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way,” CENTROM chief, General Michael Kurilla, said.

• 00:41 GMT

  Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna, has seemingly confirmed that the former Syrian president has arrived in the Russian capital. 

  “Bashar Assad and his family are in Moscow,” the diplomat wrote on Telegram. “Russia doesn’t betray its friends in dire situations. That is the difference between Russia and the US.”

• https://www.rt.com/news/608900-syria-damascus-live-updates/