Arab Spring 2.0: armed opposition in Syria claims control of Damascus
Representatives of the armed opposition in Syria have reported the end of President Bashar al-Assad's rule and the beginning of a "new Syria". According to them, they are in control of Damascus. The country's Prime Minister Ghazi Al-Jalali has already announced his readiness to hand over power to a new leadership, which will be elected by the Syrian people. Meanwhile, nothing is known about the fate of the Syrian leader himself. On what is happening in Syria - in the material of "Izvestia".
Seizure of Damascus by militants
On Sunday, December 8, the armed opposition in Syria seized state television and claimed that they had established control over the country.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali said that a new phase had begun in the country's history and acknowledged that he had established contact with Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (banned in Russia and recognized as a terrorist group), who is directing the militants' offensive. Al-Julali and some of his ministers remained in the country.
"This country can be a normal country that builds good relations with its neighbors and with the whole world ... But this issue depends on any leadership elected by the Syrian people. We are ready to cooperate with it [this leadership] and provide all possible conditions," the prime minister said.
He said he was ready to hand over power and cooperate with the opposition, while emphasizing that he would not leave the country because he wants to ensure the work of state institutions that are "meant for everyone."
"We extend our hand to the opposition, which has extended its hand and said it will not harm anyone who belongs to this country," the prime minister explained, noting that it is necessary to "think rationally and think about their country." Al-Jalali also called for not damaging state property.
The whereabouts of President Bashar al-Assad are unknown.
"I have no information about where President Bashar al-Assad and Defense Minister Ali Abbas are now," the prime minister added in a conversation with Al Arabiya TV. The politician said he was last in contact with the head of state on Saturday evening.
Earlier, the head of state was scheduled to address the Syrian people on Saturday evening, December 7. But it never took place.
Chaos in Damascus
Earlier it became known that the international airport of Damascus stopped work, and all employees of the terminal were evacuated. According to the TV channel "Al-Jazeera", shortly before the reports of the closure of the air harbor there "was chaos".
There are also reports of panic and anti-government demonstrations in the capital. Demonstrators tore down a statue of President Bashar al-Assad's father, former leader Hafez al-Assad.
According to Al Jazeera, the Syrian military is leaving the center of Damascus, with militants releasing all prisoners from one of Damascus' largest prisons, Seidnaya.
There were reports of a hasty evacuation of staff at the UN office in Damascus. Syria's prime minister said the issue of Russia's military presence would be decided by the new government, RIA Novosti reported.
Militants and sympathetic residents of the city are walking around the central Umayyad Square, while residents of the prestigious suburbs of Damascus are hastily leaving their homes. Some roads are blocked, there are communications outages, some stores are closed and those that are open have few groceries left as panicked residents of the capital have bought up almost everything.
It took 10 days to reach the capital
Earlier, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (a terrorist organization banned in Russia), together with other armed formations that are part of the so-called armed Syrian opposition, launched a large-scale operation, advancing from the north of Idlib towards the cities of Aleppo and Hama.
A day later, on November 30, Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria, and its surroundings, including the international airport and the Kuweiris military airfield, came under the control of the armed opposition.
On the night of December 8, it was reported that they had captured the city of Homs, the country's most important logistical hub, the fall of which opened the way for militants to advance into the country's western coastal regions. Hours later, anti-government forces entered the capital, Damascus.
On Saturday. the HTS leader announced that institutions would remain under the prime minister's authority until the formal transfer of power. He banned "all military forces in Damascus" from approaching government institutions and firing in the air.
Israel sent tanks to the border
Amid the HTS offensive, other armed groups have also stepped up in Syria, including the pro-US "Syrian Free Army" as well as Syrian Druze militias.
US President-elect Donald Trump said the US should have nothing to do with the situation in Syria.
"Syria is a mess, but it's not our friend, so the US should have nothing to do with it. It's not our war. Let them play by their own rules. Don't interfere!" - wrote the politician on the social network Truth Social.
According to him, the conflict was initially blamed on former US President Barack Obama, because of whom "a real hell began, in which Russia intervened." At the same time, according to Trump, the conflict in Syria is useful for the Russian Federation.
"Now the Russians, like Assad himself, are being forced out, and this may actually be the best thing that can happen to them. Russia didn't get much benefit from Syria, except that Obama looked downright stupid," the US president-elect concluded.
Meanwhile, there are reports of Israeli army activity on the border with Syria. According to Maariv and The Times, an Israeli IDF tank unit has entered the buffer zone near the Syrian town of al-Quneitra.
Israeli artillery also shelled the area of the village of Barika, located in southern Syria's Golan Heights region. IDF aviation also struck the al-Qasir neighborhood in Aleppo province. Before that, the Israeli army struck chemical weapons storage sites in Syria to prevent them from falling into the hands of the armed opposition.
Orientalist, publicist, author of the Telegram channel "Eastern Gate" Andrei Ontikov believes that it is difficult to make predictions on the situation in Syria, as there are several possible scenarios.
- The first scenario is that Syria will plunge into chaos, following the example of Libya. The logic of what has been happening periodically in Idlib leads to such a scenario. Clashes and hostilities broke out between various terrorist and opposition groups. And then Syria will be lost for years," the political scientist noted in a conversation with Izvestia. He added that perhaps the Turks, Americans, and Israelis will still manage to keep these groups from such a scenario. There are a lot of external players in Libya, and nevertheless, since 2011 the situation has been permanently tense and turbulent. Including in Tripoli itself, hostilities periodically break out, the expert explained.
The second scenario, as the expert believes, does not exclude the collapse of Syria. Or in case of formal unity of the country it may be divided into zones of influence: the Kurdish region in the east, those regions that are under the control of militants, most likely the Israelis will expand the zone of their occupation under the pretext of creating a kind of sanitary zone near the occupied Golan Heights, - believes the expert. He added that the Alawite enclave of Tartus and Latakia may stand apart. According to the analyst, there may be a combination of these two scenarios.