BEIRUT: Rebels on a lightning advance by way of Syria stated they have been nearing Damascus on Saturday (Dec 7), though Bashar al-Assad’s authorities denied that the military had withdrawn from areas across the capital.
“Our forces have begun the ultimate section of encircling the capital,” stated insurgent commander Hassan Abdel Ghani, of the militant alliance that launched the offensive.
The chief of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the militant group which has headed the assault, informed fighters to organize to take the seat of Assad’s authorities, simply over per week right into a renewed offensive within the lengthy dormant battle.
“Damascus awaits you,” stated HTS’s Ahmed al-Sharaa in an announcement on Telegram, utilizing his actual title as a substitute of his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
Syria’s defence ministry stated military forces have been “current in all areas of the Damascus countryside”.
“There is no such thing as a fact to information claiming our armed forces … have withdrawn” from positions close to Damascus, it stated.
AFP has been unable to independently confirm a number of the data supplied by the federal government and the rebels, as its journalists in Syria can not attain the areas round Damascus the place the rebels say they’re current.
