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Syria
Anti-government fighters parade in the streets of Hama after forces captured the central city, on December 6, 2024. Photo: Bakr AL KASSEM / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syrian rebels led by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on Saturday announced that they had captured the southern city of Daraa, one of the key cities of the 2011 uprising, as the Syrian regime continues to collapse under the swift advance of rebel forces.
The operations rooms of the rebel forces announced on their channel on Telegram that “The city of Daraa is fully liberated from the grip of the criminal regime and its militias.”
Daraa is about 90 kilometers south of capital Damascus.
Damascus has yet to confirm the withdrawal from Daraa.
This comes as the Syrian regime swiftly loses grip on strategic cities, as rebel forces continue to advance towards Damascus from the north.
The rebels captured the strategic province of Hama on Thursday and surrounded the key province of Homs.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “local factions have taken control of more areas in Daraa province, including Daraa city... they now control more than 90 percent of the province, as regime forces successively pulled out.”
Syria’s civil war was dramatically reignited last week when a coalition of rebels led by the Islamist HTS launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army. They quickly took control of the northern city of Aleppo, the most populated urban center in the country, and then advanced into the strategic central province of Hama, capturing the city on Thursday when the Syrian army announced its withdrawal.
The rapid shift of control across Syria has not been limited to the rebel advances towards Damascus, as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Friday that they have deployed to areas previously held by the Syrian army in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor.
The deployment came after the reported withdrawal of the Syrian army and pro-Iran militias from these areas, as well as increased Islamic State (ISIS) activities in the nearby deserts.
Reuters reported on Friday that the strategic al-Bukamal border crossing between Syria and Iraq also fell under the control of the SDF. This is a vital route for Iran to connect with its regional proxies.
Regime forces and their allies have used the territory west of the Euphrates to carry out attacks against the SDF, who are in control on the other side of the river.
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