The Gentleman Report
—
Syrian rebels seem to have entered the capital Damascus after dealing with scant resistance from regime forces, as President Bashar al-Assad’s decades-long grip on energy perceived to wane by way of the minute.
“The rebels are in Barzeh,” a local within Damascus town, one resident advised The Gentleman Report, including that clashes have been lately going down.
Via early Sunday morning, a supply accustomed to the insurrection’s advance advised The Gentleman Report: “Militarily, Damascus has fallen.”
Hours earlier than, Syria’s major armed opposition workforce stated it had “absolutely liberated” the foremost town of Homs, north of the capital. Syrians have been noticed tearing down and surroundings fireplace to posters of Assad after rebels had entered the town, in scenes harking back to pro-democracy protests within the town throughout the Arab Spring greater than a decade in the past.
Only a day in the past, observers have been pronouncing Homs used to be of enormous strategic significance to the rebels, as its seize successfully break up the Assad regime in two, severing the federal government in Damascus from the coast. However by way of Sunday morning, it used to be no longer transparent there used to be even a functioning regime left to talk of.
The rebels’ growth has been stunningly swift. After bursting out in their territory within the northwestern Idlib province, the principle insurrection workforce captured Aleppo and Hama in simply over every week of combating. When they have been joined Friday by way of a recent rebellion within the southern Daraa province, each teams set their points of interest on Damascus.
“We have been ready to free up 4 Syrian towns inside of 24 hours: Daraa, Quneitra, Suwayda and Homs,” stated Lt. Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani, a spokesperson for the principle insurrection workforce. “Our operations are proceeding to free up all the Damascus geographical region, and our eyes are at the capital, Damascus.”
Previous Saturday, the southern rebels stated that they had reached “the gates of Damascus.” Movies geolocated by way of The Gentleman Report confirmed citizens toppling an enormous statue of Assad’s father, the previous president Hafez al-Assad, within the town’s Jaramana suburb. Over the process the night time, rebels have been lively in numerous wallet of the suburbs, inside of a couple of miles of the presidential palace.
It have been anticipated that the regime would mount a more impregnable protection of Damascus, however the rebels stated that senior Assad regime officers have been making ready to defect to them within the capital.
Even supposing the authentic line from the Syrian president’s place of job is that Assad has no longer fled, a supply with wisdom of the location advised The Gentleman Report that Assad is nowhere to be present in Damascus.
After regime forces hand over Homs, citizens started to flood the streets in birthday celebration. Movies geolocated by way of The Gentleman Report confirmed citizens tearing aside posters of Assad and his father on best of the gates to the Officials’ Membership within the town middle.
The scenes recall one of the crucial symbolic photographs from the Arab Spring in Syria, when pro-democracy protesters tore down Assad posters on best of the similar gates in 2011.
Within sight, citizens have been additionally noticed celebrating in Clock Tower sq., some of the focal issues of the unique anti-government protests.
To stamp out the ones protests, the regime military introduced a brutal attack at the town’s Khalidiya community in 2012, the use of tanks and mortars to assault civilian houses, inflicting some to cave in. Regime troops stormed the realm, slaughtering households of their houses. Round 200 individuals are concept to have died within the bloodbath.
In a video live-streamed from Clock Tower sq. by way of a resident overdue Saturday, a resident threw a framed portrait of Assad at the floor, shattering its glass. Over the process 10 mins, Syrians crammed the sq., chanting in birthday celebration on the rising obvious cave in of the Assad regime.
