Rebel troops in southern Syria appear to have taken control of most of the Deraa region, the scene of the 2011 rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.
According to a UK-based war monitor, after “violent battles” with government forces, the “local factions” were able to seize control of numerous military installations there.
Rebel sources inform the Reuters news agency that they have successfully negotiated the army’s departure and the safe passage of military officials to Damascus, approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.
The BBC has not officially confirmed these reports, which came as Islamist-led rebels in northern Syria claimed to have reached the outskirts of the city of Homs.
On Friday, the UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that only the Sanamayn region remained under government control, with the rebels in the south controlling over 90% of the Deraa province.
Deraa City is significant from a strategic and symbolic standpoint. The country’s current civil conflict, which has claimed over half a million lives, began in 2011 when pro-democracy rallies broke out in this province capital, which is situated near the main Jordanian border crossings.
Jordan closed its side of the border “because of the surrounding security conditions in Syria’s south,” according to the country’s interior minister.
In the meantime, following skirmishes between security forces and militias from the Druze sect, which is the majority in the area, government officials are said to have left the city of Suweida, which is located roughly 50 kilometers east of Deraa.
“People are seeing what is happening in the rest of Syria as liberation of Syria and a chance to bring down the regime,” activist and Suwayda 24 editor Ryan Marouf told Reuters.
Kurdish-led troops claim to have captured Deir Ezzor, the government’s principal base in the country’s vast eastern desert.
Just over a week has passed since the northern rebels began their lightning offensive, the largest to target the Syrian government in recent memory and reveal the military’s vulnerability.
The UN has stated that the conflict is “worsening an already horrific situation for civilians in the north of the country” and estimates that the rebel offensive has resulted in the displacement of at least 370,000 people thus far.
In front-line regions, some civilians are stuck and unable to get to safer areas.
According to SOHR, since the Islamist-led rebels launched their attack last week, over 820 people, including 111 civilians, have died nationwide.
They took control of Hama, which is north of Homs, on Thursday, dealing President Assad a serious setback after he lost Aleppo last week.
Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, the commander of the Islamist militant organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), informed the residents of Homs that “your time has come”.
Rebels are moving south to Damascus, and Homs is their next stop.
With video footage showing highways clogged with cars, terrified members of President Assad’s Alawite minority community are fleeing Homs.
“Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs and are now on its walls,” the rebel group from Syria posted on Telegram.
Although SOHR previously stated that rebels were within a few kilometers of the city, the BBC has not been able to confirm these moves.
According to the SOHR, Russian airplanes attempted to halt the rebel advance by bombing a bridge in neighboring Rastan.
It is unclear if the Syrian military will be able to protect Homs after losing control of Hama after days of combat.
The defense ministry has denied claims of a soldier withdrawal from the key city, which links the capital Damascus to the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast.
The Alawites, a small Shia Muslim sect, are the ancestors of the Assad family.
They are essential to the president’s hold on power and have long been a significant source of support for Assad’s authority.
Assad has accused Western powers of attempting to reshape the region and pledged to “crush” the rebels.
However, observers assert that his men’s demoralization stems from inadequate pay and corruption within the ranks. According to state news agency Sana, he just announced a 50% wage increase.
The two most significant supporters of the regime, Russia and Iran, have stated their unwavering support for Assad.
However, Moscow is also calling on Russian citizens to leave the country because they have not offered the kind of military support that has up till now been sustaining his regime.
Additionally, the United States announced on Friday that its people should depart Syria “while commercial options remain available in Damascus.”
Israel’s punitive campaign against its most potent ally militia, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, has weakened Iran, while the Kremlin’s focus is on its war in Ukraine.
Although reports in the Israeli and Lebanese media indicate that a small number of Hezbollah militants have crossed the border to support Homs’ defense, the group, whose fighters had been crucial in retaining regime territory in Syria, is now mainly missing from the battlefield.
Russian and Iranian officials will meet with their Turkish counterparts this weekend to discuss how to respond to this rise in the Syrian civil war.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, has been pressuring Mr. Assad to work with the opposition to find a political solution for months. Turkey also supports some of the rebel organizations.
He has supported rebel advances and said that if Assad had heeded his calls, the offensive would not have happened.
According to analysts, it most likely would not have been possible without Ankara’s consent and knowledge.
Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, the head of HTS, has been attempting to reassure Syrians and international officials by softening his image through public statements.
By portraying himself as a nationalist who opposes strikes outside of Syria and pledges to safeguard minority groups, he has highlighted his separation from Al Qaeda and the Islamic State years ago.
Al-Jawlani stated in a CNN interview that the opposition forces wanted to topple the Assad government and appoint a government that represented all Syrians.
The military claimed to have redeployed forces outside the city after HTS rebels and their allies seized control of Hama earlier and freed prisoners from its major prison after intense fighting.
Hama, located 110 kilometers south of Aleppo and captured by the rebels last week, is home to one million people.
Aleppo, a metropolis of two million people, experiences interruptions or non-operation of some public services and vital infrastructure, such as bakeries, hospitals, power plants, water, internet, and telecommunications, due to a lack of supplies and staff.
Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, called on “all those with influence to do their part” in bringing the civil conflict to a close.
