CNN World Syrian rebels edge closer to Damascus as US officials say Assad regime could fall soon Sana Noor Haq Tori B. Powell By Sana Noor Haq, Catherine Nicholls and Tori B. Powell, CNN Updated 3:56 PM EST, Sat December 7, 2024

 CNN World

Syrian rebels edge closer to Damascus as US officials say Assad regime could fall soon

Sana Noor Haq Tori B. Powell

By Sana Noor Haq, Catherine Nicholls and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 3:56 PM EST, Sat December 7, 2024

Video shows Syrian rebels tear down statue of former president

00:43 - Source: CNN

What we're covering

• Syria’s rebel alliance is edging closer to Damascus, saying its fighters are “at the gates” of the capital, after anti-regime forces swept across the country in a lightning offensive. The Syrian army has denied it is in retreat.

• Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is nowhere to be found in Damascus, according to a source, but Syria’s presidential office and Iranian officials maintain he has not departed the capital. US officials told CNN his regime could fall within days. A Damascus resident says the city is in “a state of tension and panic.”

• In the south, a new uprising emerged along the Daraa province, with rebels there claiming to have seized a major military base as they charge toward the capital.

• On the western edge of Syria, rebels are speeding toward the major city of Homs — where residents are fleeing ahead of potential hostilities between anti-regime and government forces.

Latest

19 min ago

Here's what you should know about Bashar al-Assad

From CNN staff

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2023.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2023. Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images/File

Syria’s civil war is back in the spotlight after a new rebel coalition launched a surprise attack, capturing two major cities and eyeing the capital of Damascus, shattering the stalemate of a war that never formally ended.

The renewed conflict, which since 2011 has killed more than 300,000 and sent nearly six million refugees out of the country, has wide ramifications across the region and beyond.

The 10-day lightning offensive caught many off guard in their attempt to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

But who is the Syrian dictator that the armed opposition groups are seeking to oust?

Assad’s beginnings:

The Assad dynasty has been in power for 53 years, since Hafez al-Assad became president in 1971. He served for 29 years until his death in 2000. His regime lived on under the leadership of his son and current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In 1994, Hafez al-Assad’s oldest son and heir apparent, Basel, died in a car accident. Bashar was called back from medical training in Britain and groomed to take over his father’s role.

To maintain its decades-long rule, the regime has killed hundreds of thousands of people, jailed dissidents and brutally displaced millions internally and abroad.

Bashar al-Assad’s rule:

Assad was elected unopposed as president of Syria on July 10, 2000. On May 29, 2007, he ran again unopposed for president and was elected to a second seven-year term.

At the height of the Arab Spring in 2011, pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets in Syria calling for the ouster of Assad. The protesters were met with deadly force. As Assad’s forces crushed the pro-democracy movement, an armed opposition began to form made up of small organic militias and some defectors from the Syrian military. That same year, the United States, Jordan, Turkey and the European Union called for Assad to step down.

In 2014, Assad was reelected with 88.7% of the vote, according to reports on state run television. It was Syria’s first election since the start of civil war in 2011.

And in 2021, Assad was reelected with 95.1% of the vote, although the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy issue a joint statement calling it a “fraudulent election.”

Assad’s chokehold on the country has been reinforced by his allies. As anti-government forces grew in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as well as its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah helped fight the armed rebel groups on the ground. In the skies, the Syrian Air Force was bolstered by Russian warplanes.

Assad has been accused of human rights violations throughout the war. On 2013, UN weapons inspectors returned “overwhelming and indisputable” evidence of the use of nerve gas in Syria. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Investigation and Identification Team concluded Assad’s forces were responsible for a series of chemical attacks on a Syrian town in late March 2017. Syrian officials have repeatedly denied allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, insisting that they target terrorists and not peaceful protesters.

 

54 min ago

Rebels in southern Syria ask for international help to dispose of Assad regime’s chemical weapons

From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Christian Edwards

Rebels in southern Syria have asked the Organization for the Prohibition on Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for help in disposing safely of a stockpile of chemical weapons built up by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“The Syrian people have endured immense suffering and wounds due to the criminal use of internationally prohibited weapons by Bashar al-Assad’s regime against innocent civilians, in blatant violation of all international conventions and humanitarian values,” the southern Syrian rebels said in a statement Saturday.

They called on the international community “to support the complete removal of all weapons of mass destruction from Syria.”

The rebels said they wanted to cooperate with the OPCW and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, “to investigate the programs and stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction owned by Bashar al-Assad’s criminal regime.”

However, it was not clear whether the southern rebels had taken control of weapons stockpiles at the time the statement was issued.

Some background: Multiple investigations by fact-finding teams from the OPCW have previously concluded the Syrian government forces were responsible for a series of chemical attacks during the Syrian civil war.

1 hr 31 min ago

Iranian officials deny Assad has fled Syria, insisting he met with Iranian adviser in Damascus Friday

From CNN's Jennifer Hauser

Cars drive along a highway in Damascus, Syria, on December 5.

Cars drive along a highway in Damascus, Syria, on December 5. Firas Makdesi/Reuters/File

Iranian officials rejected reports that their ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country, as a source told CNN he is nowhere to be found in Damascus.

“The news that Assad and his family left Syria is not true,” Yaqoub Rezazadeh, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committees said Saturday, according to Iranian state-owned Press TV.

A source with knowledge of the situation told CNN Saturday that Assad isn’t at any of the locations in the city where you’d expect to find him. Assad’s Presidential Guard are no longer deployed at his usual place of residence, as they would be if he was there, the source said. The Syrian president’s office insists that Assad has not fled the capital.

An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Assad in Damascus on Friday, Press TV reported Saturday.

Adviser Ali Larijani reportedly met with Assad to convey Iran’s support for the Syrian government amid the latest rebel uprising.

Iranian officials also deny reports that their staff are evacuating the embassy in Damascus.

“Those claims are not true,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said. “Iran’s embassy (in Damascus) is still operating and continues with its routine activities,” according to Press TV.

“We have not evacuated our advisors and embassy [staff]. They are present in Damascus,” Rezazadeh said. He added that Iranian foreign ministry officials are traveling to Iraq and Qatar.

1 hr 56 min ago

Syrians living abroad seen celebrating rebel advances

From CNN’s Christian Edwards and Eyad Kourdi

Syrians living outside of the country have been seen celebrating the rebel offensive against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Outside the Russian Embassy in London on Saturday, a video showed dozens of Syrians waving “Free Syria” flags and chanting in celebration. Some held signs reading: “Enough with Assad.”

Russia has been a staunch backer of Assad over more than a decade of civil war, but its military involvement in Syria since the rebel offensive began a week ago has been minimal.

In Istanbul, Turkey, Syrians also lauded the rebels’ blows against the Assad regime. In one video, dozens of people were seen singing and dancing in a square in the city’s Bashakshehir neighborhood. One was waving a “Free Syria” flag.

Turkey currently hosts some 3.2 million Syrian refugees.

1 hr 40 min ago

Toppling Syrian regime "is just around the corner," rebel leader says

From CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani speaks during an interview with CNN on December 5.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani speaks during an interview with CNN on December 5. CNN

The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime “is just around the corner,” according to a key rebel leader, who said Saturday he was advising his fighters to be “merciful” to civilians.

“You have reached the threshold of Homs and Damascus, and the overthrow of the criminal regime is just around the corner, so I renew my advice to you, my brothers, to be merciful, kind, and gentle with our people in the cities and villages that you enter as humble conquerors,” the leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said in a statement.

What is HTS? It was formed out of a former al Qaeda affiliate and is the main group driving the armed opposition. Despite Jolani’s effort to distance HTS from al Qaeda and ISIS, the US and other Western countries designated it a terrorist organization in 2018 and placed a $10 million bounty on him.

Al-Jolani also stressed that all defecting regime army forces would be safe if they laid down weapons.

“To the soldiers and officers of the Assad regime, whoever enters his home and closes his door … is safe, and whoever announces his defection from the criminal regime, puts down his weapon, and surrenders himself is safe,” al-Jolani said.

“Surprises awaiting” Assad’s regime: As rebel groups say they are starting to encircle the capital, The Military Operations Command — the group of rebels that began an offensive last week from the northwest Idlib region — issued a warning to Assad.

“We promise the criminal regime surprises awaiting it from the heart of the capital,” said Lt. Col. Hassan Abdel Ghani, a spokesperson for the rebels.

Nechirvan Mando contributed reporting to this post.

2 hr 41 min ago

Syrian residents start to flee upscale neighborhood near Damascus

From CNN’s Avery Schmitz, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Eyad Kourdi and Sana Noor Haq

Dozens of residents began to flee the upscale Mezzeh neighborhood, close to the Syrian capital Damascus, on Saturday, as rebel forces made gains through regime-held areas.

Car headlights lit up a highway leading out of Mezzeh, just southwest of Damascus, in video geolocated by CNN. Groups of men carried their belongings and walked along a wide road, as night began to fall.

Some of the pedestrians, who wore camouflage pants, appeared to be members of the Syrian military. The neighborhood is about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the Syrian presidential palace.

“The army (regime) is withdrawing,” said one person, who is not in view. “The whole army withdrew.”

A spokesperson for Syria’s rebel coalition — comprised of a disparate group of factions who share a common goal of deposing the Assad regime — said earlier that fighters are trying to surround the capital.

Assad’s military has brushed off reports that government troops were withdrawing from the Damascus region.

2 hr 49 min ago

Syrian regime claims rebels are spreading "false news" to destabilize country

From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Mohammed Tawfeeq

The Syrian regime called on residents across the country not to believe “false news” that it said aimed “to destabilize the security of the nation,” a Syrian Army general said in a televised statement aired on state media outlets Saturday.

“The media platforms affiliated with the terrorists have not ceased spreading misleading videos and false news about the events taking place across Syrian territories,” according to the statement.

The general, who is with the country’s defense ministry, said government forces “continue to carry out strategic operations against terrorist gatherings at a high pace in the directions of the Hama, Homs and northern Daraa countryside,” which he claimed have killed hundreds of rebel fighters.

The media units of armed opposition groups have been posting videos on social media platforms showing cities and towns in southern and northern Syria under their control.

The groups launched a lightning offensive over a week ago that caught many off guard in their attempt to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

2 hr 20 min ago

Assad is nowhere to be found in Damascus, source says

From CNN's Nic Robertson

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen on a building in Damascus, Syria, on December 7.

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen on a building in Damascus, Syria, on December 7. Omar Sanadiki/AP

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is nowhere to be found in Damascus, a source tells CNN.

The official line of the Syrian president’s office is that Assad hasn’t fled the capital. But a source with knowledge of the situation tells CNN that Assad isn’t at any of the locations in the city where you’d expect to find him.

Assad’s Presidential Guard are no longer deployed at his usual place of residence, as they would be if he was there, the source said, fueling speculation he may have escaped Damascus.

Traditionally, this guard detail would provide Assad’s inner cordon of security, and some of them would be expected to travel with the president when he is on the move.

According to the source, rebel forces have no solid intelligence on Assad’s location and are continuing their efforts to find him.

2 hr 55 min ago

UN official calls for "sovereignty, independence and unity" in Syria

From CNN’s Richard Roth and Sana Noor Haq

The United Nations’ special envoy for Syria demanded an “inclusive and credible” transition of power on Saturday, as rebel fighters continued their rapid offensive toward Damascus.

“The need for an orderly political transition has never been more urgent,” Geir O. Pedersen told a conference in the Qatari capital for the Doha Forum, an annual assembly of diplomats and policymakers.

“We need an urgent serious process fundamentally different from what has gone on before,” said Pedersen. “This must be the start of a process that leads to the realization of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and the restoration of the sovereignty, independence, and unity, and territorial integrity of Syria.”

Pedersen met with Iranian, Russian and Turkish government ministers, according to the statement, as well as representatives from the US, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union.

“I reiterate my call for de-escalation, for calm, for the avoidance of bloodshed, and the protection of civilians in line with international humanitarian law,” he said.

3 hr 13 min ago

Syrians in northwest Damascus suburb seen celebrating rebel advance

From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Avery Schmitz

Residents in Irbin, a northwest suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, have been seen celebrating the progress of anti-regime rebel fighters as they move closer to the city center.

In a video geolocated by CNN, residents were observed flooding the streets, lighting fireworks and honking car horns.

Irbin is just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the center of Damascus.

Earlier, the southern rebels — who launched their offensive just a day ago — said they had reached “the gates” of the capital.

3 hr 18 min ago

Israeli military says it is assisting UN forces in repelling attack from "armed individuals" in Syria

From Tamar Michaelis and CNN's Jeremy Diamond and Mohammed Tawfeeq

The Israeli military said it is currently assisting United Nations forces at its post in Syria in repelling an attack by “armed individuals.”

“A short while ago, an attack was carried out by armed individuals at a UN post in the Hader area in Syria,” the Israeli military said in a Saturday statement. Syria’s Hader area is close to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The military “is currently assisting the UN forces in repelling the attack,” the statement added.

The Israeli military “is deployed with reinforced forces in the Golan Heights area and will continue to operate in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens,” according to the statement.

An Israeli military official told CNN Friday that there is air support only in the area and no ground troops involved at this time.

Israel on Friday instructed its forces “to maintain a high level of preparedness and to continuously monitor the developments,” in Syria as rebels advance, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement Friday.

About the Golan Heights: Israel seized the strategic plateau from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 before formally annexing it in 1981. The hilly landscape, which spans some 500 square miles, also shares a border with Jordan and Lebanon.

Syria’s capital Damascus is visible from atop the rocky Golan. The Israeli-occupied part of the region is separated from Syria by a buffer zone supported by the United Nations.

3 hr 26 min ago

Rebels says they will protect UN office and international organizations in Syria

From CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq

Syria’s armed opposition forces have vowed to protect United Nations offices and international organizations in the country, saying they are “institutions serving the people.”

“We affirm that all government institutions, international organizations and United Nations offices operating on our land are institutions serving the people, and we have a duty to protect and preserve them, and even ensure the continuity of their work,” the rebel coalition led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said in a statement on Saturday.

The groups said it is their “responsibility and commitment to protect the interests of our people.”

“We also affirm our keenness to ensure their safety and prevent any violations that may affect their work or hinder their development and service goals, in Aleppo, Hama, Homs, southern Syria and the rest of the Syrian cities,” the statement added.

The armed opposition groups have seized several cities in southern and northern Syria during a 10-day lightning offensive that caught many off guard in their attempt to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

3 hr 20 min ago

The Assad regime could fall in days, US increasingly believes

From Alex Marquardt, Katie Bo Lillis and Natasha Bertrand

Rebel fighters sit on a vehicle in Homs, Syria, on December 7.

Rebel fighters sit on a vehicle in Homs, Syria, on December 7. Mahmoud Hasano/Reuters

Officials in US President Joe Biden’s administration, watching the remarkable speed of the Syrian rebel advance, increasingly see the possibility of Bashar al-Assad’s regime falling within days, five US officials told CNN.

If the American analysis proves true, it would represent a spectacularly fast fall from power for the Syrian dictator after a war that began in 2011, one that had been relatively stagnant until just last week.

Officials cautioned that there isn’t a formal assessment that has emerged on Assad’s fate and that views vary, saying his demise isn’t a forgone conclusion.

“The emerging consensus is that is an increasingly plausible scenario,” one senior US official said.

“Probably by next weekend the Assad regime will have lost any semblance of power,” one said.

“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.

The Biden administration appeared caught off guard by the speed of the rebel advance that was launched last week. Regime troops have collapsed and melted away, leaving a fragile shell of an army to defend the president and Damascus.

For context: The US has misjudged the staying power of regimes before, most recently in Afghanistan — where the US intelligence community judged that the Afghan government would be more resilient than it ultimately was — and in Ukraine, which the US wrongly believed would fall to Russia within days of Russia’s invasion. As a result, in 2022, the US intelligence launched a review of how it assesses the “will to fight” of foreign militaries, CNN has previously reported.

Read more.

3 hr 48 min ago

Syrian rebels say they are "at the gates of Damascus," just one day after launching southern offensive

From CNN’s Avery Schmitz, Eyad Kourdi and Christian Edwards

Syria’s anti-regime rebels say they have reached “the gates of Damascus,” just a day after launching an offensive in the country’s southern Daraa region.

In a statement shortly after 7 p.m. local time on Saturday, the rebel Free Syrian Army group said its fighters are “at the gates” of the Syrian capital.

The southern Syrian rebels began their offensive in Daraa early Friday. In a little over a day, they have gobbled up territory in the southern countryside and now appear to be just a few miles from the city center.

Videos geolocated by CNN show rebels have been active in several pockets of the outer southern suburbs of Damascus since earlier Saturday afternoon.

In Moadamyeh, just 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of the city center, locals were seen celebrating on the streets after driving regime forces out of their suburb, which is near a military airport. Rebels have also claimed control of Darayya, slightly west of Moadamyeh.

In Jaramana, to the southeast, residents earlier toppled a huge sculpture of the father of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, former President Hafez al-Assad.

2 hr 30 min ago

Turkey’s Erdogan says he hopes Syria finds "peace and tranquility" after 13 years of civil war

From CNN’s Gul Tuysuz and Christian Edwards

A view of Hama, Syria, is seen after the opposition’s takeover on December 6.

A view of Hama, Syria, is seen after the opposition’s takeover on December 6. Ghaith Alsayed/AP

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey wishes that neighboring Syria can “quickly attain the peace and tranquility it has longed for” during 13 years of civil conflict.

Syrian rebel factions have staged a lightning offensive in the northwest of the country and in recent days crept closer toward the capital Damascus, in the most brazen challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in nearly a decade.

“I want to say this openly: We do not have our eyes on land — not even a pebble — that belongs to another country,” Erdogan said Saturday in Gaziantep, a southern Turkish city close to the Syrian border.

“As Turkey, our wish is for our neighbor Syria to quickly attain the peace and tranquility it has longed for for 13 years,” he added.

About Gaziantep: The city is home to about 500,000 Syrian refugees among the 12 million Syrians who have been displaced by the war. Erdogan said that “history will remember the hospitality of Gaziantep.”

“Our Syrian siblings have really gone through hard days, they have paid heavy costs … An estimated 1 million Syrians have lost their lives due to the Syrian regime and the terrorist groups,” he said, condemning the use of chemical weapons and barrel bombs.

Discussing the onset of the rebel offensive last week, Erdogan said: “It seems the increasing attacks on civilians in Idlib was like the straw that broke the camel’s back and triggered the latest developments.”

“Everyone must accept that in Syria, political and diplomatically, there is a new reality,” he added.

3 hr 58 min ago

Syrian opposition forces say they are inching closer to Damascus. Here's what you should know

From CNN staff

Syria’s armed rebels are attempting an operation to encircle the capital of Damascus, while the Syrian military denied that its forces are withdrawing from the capital region.

After seizing Aleppo and Hama, rebel forces now appear to be speeding from the north toward the major city of Homs, with residents fleeing ahead of potential clashes between opposition and regime fighters. Separate factions of rebels were also battling Syrian forces in the south of the country. Those opposition forces claim to have taken control of Daraa city in southwestern Syria — where the country’s 2011 uprising erupted.

Here’s what else you should know:

How we got here: At the height of the Arab Spring in 2011, pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets in Syria calling for the ouster of its authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad. The protesters were met with deadly force. By 2014, extremist groups outweighed moderates within the opposition coalition, and ISIS began sweeping across the country. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — a US partner made up of Kurdish fighters — fought against ISIS, effectively ending the group’s territorial existence. Then in 2020, Russia and Turkey agreed to a ceasefire in their proxy battle over the last remaining opposition-held province, Idlib. But now the offensive began after rebels formed a new coalition called the “Military Operations Command.” They quickly swept through villages outside Aleppo, and residents have now said they control much of the city, meeting little resistance on the way. The fighters say they are seeking to liberate occupied territory and were responding to stepped up attacks from government forces and pro-Iranian militia groups.

Outside of the capital: Opposition faction fighters penetrated the town of Kanaker, in the Damascus countryside, on Saturday, as the rebel alliance edged closer to the capital. The rebel alliance is fighting Assad’s troops from the northern and southernmost parts of the country, surrounding Damascus.

Syria’s president still in Damascus: Assad has not departed from Damascus, despite the fact that a rebel advance toward the capital city is gathering pace, Syria’s presidency said.

Syrian soldiers cross into Iraq: More than 1,000 Syrian army soldiers have arrived in Iraq through a border crossing in eastern Syria, a statement by Iraq’s state news agency said, citing a military source.

Russia’s involvement: Russia is attempting to do “everything” it can so as “not to allow terrorists to prevail” in Syria, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday. Russian jets have been assisting Assad’s forces in striking rebel fighters since 2015, including when armed opposition rebels launched their latest offensive last week.

Missed opportunity: Assad did not seize an opportunity to reconcile his relationship with the Syrian people during a period when the country’s civil war had quietened, according to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Trump’s hands-off approach: US President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the escalating situation in Syria Saturday, posting on social media that the US should not get involved.

 

4 hr 56 min ago

Damascus resident says Syrian capital engulfed by "tension and panic" as rebels edge toward capital

From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Sana Noor Haq

A resident of Damascus has described a state of fear and alarm among people in the Syrian capital, as anti-government rebels continue to tear through regime-held territory.

“Damascus is in a state of tension and panic,” the resident, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told CNN on Saturday. “People are anxiously waiting to see what will happen, unsure of what to do.”

Some roads were blocked and shops in their neighborhood near the city center were closed, according to the resident, while food supplies were largely unavailable. Meanwhile, communications are functioning intermittently.

The military presence in the capital has “significantly decreased,” the resident said, adding that a few troops remain at checkpoints. However, many soldiers are “changing out (of) their uniforms into civilian clothes.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military has rebuffed reports that government troops were withdrawing from the Damascus region.

Earlier on Saturday, rebel fighters claimed to have seized the southwestern city of Daraa — the birthplace of the 2011 uprising. Armed fighters later penetrated the town of Kanaker, in the Damascus countryside, as the rebel coalition clawed closer toward the capital.

4 hr 33 min ago

Who are Syria's rebel groups?

From CNN's Mostafa Salem

Smoke rises as a member of the rebels, led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen in Aleppo, Syria, on November 29.

Smoke rises as a member of the rebels, led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen in Aleppo, Syria, on November 29. Mahmoud Hasano/Reuters

Syria’s rebel coalition consists of Islamist and moderate factions who, despite their differences, are united in fighting the Assad regime, ISIS and Iran-backed militias.

Here are some of the groups forming the coalition:

Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS): The most prominent and formidable of the groups is HTS, also known as the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant. HTS was founded by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, a military commander who gained experience as a young fighter for al Qaeda against the United States in Iraq.

He created Jabhat al-Nusra, al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, and operated the group until a public split with in 2016 over ideological differences and opposition to ISIS. Jolani formed HTS in 2017.

Despite Jolani’s effort to distance HTS from al Qaeda and ISIS, the US and other Western countries designated it a terrorist organization in 2018 and placed a $10 million bounty on him.

The Syrian National Army (SNA): The “Syrian National Army” incorporates dozens of factions with various ideologies that receive funding and arms from Turkey.

That coalition includes the National Liberation Front, comprising factions like Ahrar al-Sham whose stated aims are to “overthrow the (Assad) regime” and “establish an Islamic state governed by Sharia law.”

Complicating matters is that some members of the rebel coalition are also fighting Kurdish forces.

The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army said last week it had seized control of the city of Tal Rifaat and other towns and villages in the northern part of the Aleppo governorate.

Those territories were previously held not by Assad’s government but by another faction involved in the multi-front civil war: the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The SDF are largely made up of Kurdish fighters from a group known as the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey.

In Syria’s south, fighters from the country’s Druze religious minority have also joined the fight, a local activist group told CNN.

Druze are fighting in the southern city of as-Suwayda, which neighbors the Daraa province, where opposition forces claim to have taken control of Daraa city.

5 hr 20 min ago

Trump says US should not get involved with Syria: "This is not our fight"

From CNN's Alayna Treene and Alejandra Jaramillo

President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the escalating situation in Syria Saturday, posting on social media: “THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”

Trump also argued that if Syrian rebels are able to force President Bashar al-Assad out of power, “it may actually be the best thing that can happen” to Russia, which he argued is too preoccupied with its war in Ukraine to stop the rebel fighters.

The president-elect also blamed former US President Barack Obama’s administration for what he said was failing to enforce the 2013 “red line,” which stated that Syria’s use of chemical weapons would mean US military action.

Reiterating his “America First” stance, Trump argued that Syria is not the United States’ fight.

“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend,” he wrote, urging a hands-off approach.

5 hr 20 min ago

Syrian protesters tear down statue of late father of Assad near Damascus

From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Sana Noor Haq

This still image from a video shows a protester climbing atop a huge facade showing the face of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, as people chant and clap in the foreground, in Jaramana, Syria, on December 7.

00:43 - Source: CNN

Throngs of demonstrators toppled a colossal sculpture of the father of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the southern city of Jaramana Saturday, after regime forces retreated from the area just south of the capital Damascus.

A protester could be seen climbing atop a huge facade showing the face of former President Hafez al-Assad, as dozens of men chanted and clapped in the foreground, according to footage geolocated by CNN. Others ferociously hammered parts of the statue, scattering broken pieces of material.

The sound of gunfire can be heard overhead. In one video, a man is seen waving the blue, yellow, red, white and green colors of the Druze flag. The outburst of celebrations came as Assad’s troops retreated from Jaramana, according to the activist group Suwayda 24.

Rebel factions have crept closer to the strategic capital in recent days — in the most brazen challenge to the regime’s autocracy in nearly a decade.

Hours earlier, Druze rebel fighters were advancing through the city of as-Suwaydya, just south of Jaramana. Last summer, residents in as-Suwaydya staged a rare string of protests calling for regime change, with some people crying: “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad.”

By taking up arms in the latest rebel swing, Druze forces are bolstering the bubbling southern offensive.

5 hr 17 min ago

More than 1,000 Syrian army soldiers have fled to Iraq, Iraqi state news agency says

By Aqeel Najim and Nechirvan Mando

More than 1,000 Syrian army soldiers have arrived in Iraq through a border crossing in eastern Syria, a statement by Iraq’s state news agency said, citing a military source.

“Iraq has received more than a thousand Syrian army soldiers today through the Al-Qaim border crossing in Anbar Province,” the source said, according to the Iraqi news agency.

“The soldiers were received, provided with the necessary care, and their needs were met,” the source added.

6 hr 16 min ago

Syria’s Assad has not left Damascus, presidential office says

From CNN’s Mostafa Salem

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2023.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2023. Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images/File

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has not departed from Damascus, despite the fact that a rebel advance towards the capital city is gathering pace, Syria’s presidency said.

“Some foreign media outlets are spreading rumors and false news about President Bashar al-Assad leaving Damascus, or making quick visits to another country,” the presidency said in a Saturday statement.

“The president is following up on his work and national and constitutional duties from the capital, Damascus,” it added.

6 hr 28 min ago

Russia trying to do "everything" to stop "terrorists" in Syria, foreign minister says

From CNN's Catherine Nicholls and Mostafa Salem

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks in Doha, Qatar, on December 7.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks in Doha, Qatar, on December 7. Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images

Russia is attempting to do “everything” it can so as “not to allow terrorists to prevail” in Syria, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday.

Russian jets have been assisting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in striking rebel fighters since 2015, including when armed opposition rebels launched their latest offensive last week.

When asked if Moscow was worried about rebels taking the Syrian city of Homs, Lavrov said that he is “not in the business of guessing what is going to happen.”

“We are trying to do everything not to allow terrorists to prevail, even if they say that they are no longer terrorists,” he continued.

Lavrov also criticized CNN’s recent interview with Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the militant leader of the main group driving Syria’s armed opposition.

“We checked with the Americans whether he’s still on the US terrorist list, and they said yes, he is, in addition to the (United Nations) Security Council terrorist list. So giving him the audience of CNN is already something,” Lavrov said.

“Militarily, Russia helps the Syrian army with the air force… and we help the Syrian army to counter the attacks of terrorists. What is the forecast? I cannot guess. We are not in the business of guessing.”

7 hr 28 min ago

Assad did not seize opportunity to engage and restore relationship with his people, Qatari PM says

From CNN’s Mostafa Salem

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad did not seize an opportunity to reconcile his relationship with the Syrian people during a period when the country’s civil war had quietened, according to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

“We had an opportunity in that time when the war over there has calmed down, yet Assad didn’t seize that opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” Al Thani told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a panel at a conference in Doha, Qatar’s capital.

“We didn’t see any serious movement on the return of the refugees or reconciling with his people,” Al Thani said.

Rebel forces in Syria are currently advancing quickly to capture cities previously controlled by Assad in both the north and south of the country. At least four cities have been captured by opposition troops over the past 10 days.

The Qatari prime minister, who also serves as the country’s foreign minister, said in reference to the rebel offensives that “everyone around the world… is surprised on how they are advancing and how fast they are progressing.”

Al Thani called for a political and sustainable solution to the crisis.

“Our worries (are) that this will bring us back to the old cycles of internal violence and civil war, which would threaten the territorial integrity of the state of Syria,” he said. “Honestly it’s going to damage and destroy what’s left if there’s no sense of urgency to start putting a political framework to what’s happening over there.”

5 hr 48 min ago

Syria's rebels penetrate town of Kanaker, as factions inch closer to capital Damascus

From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi, Avery Schmitz and Sana Noor Haq

00:16 - Source: CNN

Opposition faction fighters penetrated the town of Kanaker, in the Damascus countryside, on Saturday, as the rebel alliance edged closer to the capital.

A volley of bullets can be heard in footage geolocated by CNN, before armed men point their guns towards the sky.

The rebel alliance is fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops from the northern and southernmost parts of the country, surrounding Damascus.

The rebels’ claim that they are encircling the capital has not been verified by CNN, but follows tangible signs of advances in the southwestern city of Daraa – where the uprising erupted in 2011.

Further north, armed rebel fighters entered the central city of Palmyra on Saturday, as anti-regime forces leapt through patches of government-held territory in a 10-day offensive.

In video geolocated by CNN, armed men could be seen trundling down a dusty, open pathway. The city of Palmyra is an archaeological landmark, which traces back to the Neolithic period.

6 hr 55 min ago

Here's how much control the rebels have seized in Syria

An anti-government fighter shoots a banner with a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, hanging on the facade of a municipal building, in Hama, Syria, on December 5.

An anti-government fighter shoots a banner with a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, hanging on the facade of a municipal building, in Hama, Syria, on December 5. Bakr Alkasem/AFP/Getty Images

After seizing Aleppo and Hama, Syrian rebel forces now appear to be speeding from the north toward the major city of Homs, with residents fleeing ahead of potential clashes between opposition and regime fighters.

Elsewhere, separate factions of rebels were also battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the south of the country.

Those opposition forces claim to have taken control of Daraa city in southwestern Syria, inching closer to the capital Damascus.

Rebel factions representing the Druze sect in Daraa’s neighboring city of as-Suwayda also launched an offensive against Syrian regime forces there.

The southern factions are different from factions in the north led by the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which took both Aleppo and Hama during its offensive that started over a week ago. Still, those groups aim for the same goal, which is toppling Assad.

Here’s the status of their control as of Friday:

8 hr 16 min ago

BREAKING: Syria’s rebels say they are trying to encircle the capital Damascus

From CNN’s Eyad Kourdi and Mostafa Salem

Syria’s armed rebels are attempting an operation to encircle the capital Damascus, a spokesperson said on Telegram.

Hassan Abdulghani, the spokesperson of the rebel coalition led by the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) group, said the “final phase” of their operation to “encircle” Damascus had started.

CNN could not verify that claim.

The Syrian military denied that their forces are withdrawing from the Damascus region, calling reports of their retreat “a false media campaign… by armed terrorist organizations… with the aim of spreading panic and fear among civilians in the Damascus countryside.”

8 hr 20 min ago

A guide to what’s happening in Syria

From CNN's Lauren Kent

A Syrian opposition flag flies above a market square in central Aleppo on November 30

A Syrian opposition flag flies above a market square in central Aleppo on November 30 Muhammad Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images

The renewed fighting in Syria’s civil war, which has killed more than 300,000 people and sent nearly 6 million refugees out of the country since 2011, will have wide ramifications across the Middle East and beyond.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re catching up on the conflict:

What happened in Syria’s civil war? At the height of the Arab Spring in 2011, pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets in Syria calling for the ouster of its authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad. The protesters were met with deadly force. As Assad’s forces crushed the pro-democracy movement, an armed opposition began to form, made up of small organic militias and some defectors from the Syrian military.

Support for the opposition forces: The opposition forces — which are decentralized and made up of different ideologies, but with a common goal of toppling Assad — were supported in various ways by foreign powers including neighboring Turkey, regional giants Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.

Assad’s allies: As the anti-government forces grew, Syria’s allies Iran and Russia stepped up their support. On the ground, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — as well as its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah — helped fight the armed rebel groups. In the skies, the Syrian Air Force was bolstered by Russian warplanes.

ISIS enters the mix: By 2014, extremist groups outweighed moderates within the opposition coalition, and ISIS began sweeping across the country. Fearing Syria would become a permanent terror hotbed, an international coalition led by the US stepped in with a focus on eliminating the group, but without confronting the Syrian regime. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — a US partner made up of Kurdish fighters — fought against ISIS, effectively ending the group’s territorial existence.

The last major development: In 2020, Russia and Turkey agreed to a ceasefire in their proxy battle over the last remaining opposition-held province, Idlib. There have been no major flare-ups since, but Syria’s government never regained all of its territory. And as events in Aleppo show, armed resistance never completely went away.

Why has the conflict reignited now?: The offensive began after rebels formed a new coalition called the “Military Operations Command.” They quickly swept through villages outside Aleppo, and residents have now said they control much of the city, meeting little resistance on the way. The fighters say they are seeking to liberate occupied territory and were responding to stepped up attacks from government forces and pro-Iranian militia groups.

CNN’s Eyad Kourdi, Ben Wedeman, Mostafa Salem and Christian Edwards contributed to this report.