BEIRUT: Rebels on a lightning advance by 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they have been nearing Damascus on Saturday (Dec 7), though Bashar al-Assad’s authorities denied that the military had withdrawn from areas across the capital.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 part 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, advised fighters to arrange to take the seat of Assad’s authorities, simply over every week right into a renewed offensive within the lengthy dormant battle.
“Damascus awaits you,” stated HTS’s Ahmed al-Sharaa in a press release 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“There isn’t any fact to information claiming our armed forces … have withdrawn” from positions close to Damascus, it stated.
AFP has been unable to independently confirm among the info 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.
