Syrian Rebels Seize Homs City In Major Blow To President Bashar Al-Assad

Rebels freed thousands of detainees from the city prison. Security forces left in haste after burning their documents.

Syrian President's Bashar Al-Assad territorial control collapsed

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Syrian rebels gained full control over the key city of Homs early on Sunday and inched closer to the capital Damascus. Rebels fired into the air in celebration, and Syrian President's Bashar Al-Assad territorial control collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the military.

According to Reuters, the fall of Homs gives the insurgents control over Syria's strategic heartland and a key highway crossroads, severing Damascus from the coastal region that is the stronghold of Assad's Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base. Homs' capture is also a powerful symbol of the rebel movement's dramatic comeback in the 13-year-old conflict.

"Our forces have begun the final phase of encircling the capital," said rebel commander Hassan Abdel Ghani, with the Islamist-led alliance that launched the offensive, news agency AFP reported. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commander (HTS) Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the main rebel leader, called the capture of Homs a historic moment and urged fighters not to harm "those who drop their arms".

Meanwhile, the Syrian defence ministry said army forces were "present in all areas of the Damascus countryside". "There is no truth to news claiming our armed forces... have withdrawn" from positions near Damascus, it said. Syria's presidency denied reports that Assad had left Damascus, saying he was "following up on his work and national and constitutional duties from the capital".

Rebels freed thousands of detainees from the city prison. Security forces left in haste after burning their documents. The battle for control of the country is likely to turn quickly to the capital. Residents of numerous Damascus districts turned out to protest Assad on Saturday evening, and security forces were either unwilling or unable to clamp down, Reuters reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Syria must not be allowed to fall into the hands of "terrorist" rebels fighting the forces of Moscow's ally President Bashar al-Assad. "It's inadmissible to allow the terrorist group to take control of the lands in violation of agreements which exist, starting with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 which strongly reiterated sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity of the Syrian Arab Republic," Lavrov said at an event in Qatar, referring to a 2015 UN resolution for a political settlement in Syria.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for a "political solution to the conflict", his spokesperson said on Friday, in a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. US President-elect Donald Trump, however, on Saturday said the US should "not get involved" in the situation in Syria. "Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, and the United States should have nothing to do with it. This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.