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By Peter Aitken
Politics Weekend Editor
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Syrian rebels have declared victory in a vital city on their way to taking the capital, with reports indicating that anti-Bashar al-Assad forces are progressing through the Damascus suburbs.
Timour Azhari, the Iraq bureau chief at Reuters, posted video to X, formerly Twitter, showing "large celebrations in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli after rebels take Homs," the third-largest city in Syria. Homs also serves as a vital hub that connects the country's north and south through the capital.
"Syria rebels announce 'total liberation' of Homs," Azhari wrote in another X post. The advance follows reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country—reports that the Syrian government completely rejected earlier on Saturday.
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Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani called the victory a "historic moment" and called on his fighters not to harm "those who drop their arms," according to the BBC.
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The BBC also reported that rebels have also targeted the Saydnaya prison, a notorious detention center.
U.S. officials have increasingly admitted that it's possible that the Assad regime may fall within days, calling it "an increasingly plausible scenario," CNN reported, citing five U.S. officials.
"The emerging consensus is that is an increasingly plausible scenario," one senior US official said, while another another went a step further and speculated that "the Assad regime will have lost any semblance of power" by that time.
"Only thing that would delay a rebel conquest would be a well-organized coup and reorganization, but Assad's folks have done a good job of stifling any potential competitors," the official added.
Opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus on Saturday, marking the first encroachment on the city since 2018. The swift advance has marked the greatest challenge to Assad's rule in years.
Led by the Sunni Islamist Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group, which has Al-Qaeda origins, the rebels launched their offensive on November 27, capturing the northern city of Aleppo and the central city of Hama.
The rebels most recently took Deraa where the militants celebrated by toppling a statue of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. This marked the fourth city in a week that the rebels managed to take before also reportedly taking Homs.
Meanwhile, Russia, an ally to Syria, has its focus on Ukraine amid the ongoing war between the two countries, with Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly admitting he will unlikely be able to provide Assad with the same assistance he has in years past.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday said that his Iranian and Turkish counterparts would call for "dialogue between the government and legitimate opposition" in Syria without specifying what that opposition is.
Newsweek has reached out by email to Iran's and Turkey's foreign ministries via an online form.
An Iraqi official also told Newsweek that the country has no plans to send troops into Syria and would instead seek a political resolution to the crisis, saying, "Iraq is working hard to find a balanced political solution to the recent repercussions."
Update, 12/7/24 at 6:15 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information about the crisis in Syria.
Update, 12/7/24 at 6:44 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update, 12/7/24 at 7:05 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with reported comments from U.S. officials.
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