India Urges Citizens To Leave Syria As Rebels Close In On Homs, Advance Towards Damascus
Syrian militants have advanced to the country’s third-largest city, Homs as they are moving towards Damascus.
Syrian militants announced on Friday that they have entered towns north of the country’s third-largest city, Homs, as they swept along a highway that eventually leads to the capital, Damascus. According to Reuters, militants led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) early on Saturday seized the southern city of Daraa, near Jordan, after they reached a deal with the army officials for safe passage to the capital city of Damascus for army's orderly withdrawal.
Daraa city has both strategic and symbolic importance. It is a provincial capital and is close to the main crossings on the Jordanian border. Jordan's interior minister said the country had closed its side of the border as "a result of the surrounding security conditions in Syria's south", according to the BBC.
Militants seized control of the city of Hama on Thursday before they advanced south. The group swiftly captured two strategic towns along the route south of Hama and reached Al-Dar al-Kabera, a town located just five miles from the centre of Homs.
The capture of Homs would cut off Damascus from the coast, a stronghold of Assad's minority Alawite sect where Russian allies have a naval base and air base.
The United Nations has estimated 370,000 people have been displaced due to the ongoing offensive. The organisation has warned that the fighting is also "worsening an already horrific situation for civilians in the north of the country". Some civilians are trapped in front-line areas unable to reach safer locations.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said thousands of people had begun fleeing from Homs on Thursday night towards the Mediterranean coastal regions of Latakia and Tartus, strongholds of the government.
Speaking to reporters outside a mosque in Istanbul, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, offered a message of support to the insurgency. He had previously offered to “discuss shaping the future of Syria”, together with Assad, he said, “but we received no response”.
“Idlib, Hama, Homs and after that most probably Damascus … we hope this march in Syria will continue without any issues,” he said. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Russia are expected to meet tomorrow on the sidelines of a forum in Doha for an urgent meeting on Syria.
Ministry of External Affairs Asks Indians To Avoid Travelling To Syria
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs has asked all Indian nationals to avoid all travel to Syria. They have asked Indians currently in Syria to remain in touch with the Indian Embassy in Damascus at their emergency helpline number +963 993385973 (also on WhatsApp) and email ID hoc.damascus@mea.gov.in for updates.
Travel advisory for Syria:https://t.co/bOnSP3tS03 pic.twitter.com/zg1AH7n6RB
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) December 6, 2024
They also asked people who were able to leave by the earliest available commercial flights and others were requested to take precautions about their safety and restrict their movement to the minimum.
An External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said that they are closely monitoring fighting in North Syria. It said there were 19 Indian nationals, as well as several Indians working with UN organisations. The Indian embassy is in regular contact with the Indian nationals to look after their safety and security.
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