Syrian rebels say they have taken control of Homs

The chief of the Islamist group main an insurgency in Syria says his forces have taken full management of Homs – the nation’s third largest metropolis.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani referred to as it a “historic victory” and urged his followers to not hurt those that surrendered. The BBC has not but been in a position to confirm the claims.

The Syrian Defence Ministry mentioned the stories had been false and that the scenario in Homs was “stable and safe”.

Meanwhile, insurgent forces are reported to be closing in on Damascus, because the Syrian military says it’s boosting its deployment of forces across the capital.

According to the UK-based battle monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), anti-Assad fighters entered town of Homs and “took control of several neighbourhoods”.

Rebel commander Hasan Abdul Ghani introduced the “complete liberation” of Homs and wrote on X that greater than 3,500 inmates had been free of jail.

The fall of town to insurgent forces could be one other main blow to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as it could isolate Damascus, slicing town off from the coastal heartland of his household’s minority Alawite sect.

It would even be a symbolic victory, as Homs served because the opposition’s stronghold within the early days of the civil battle, which broke out in 2011.

Ghani mentioned that efforts had been persevering with to “liberate the entire Damascus countryside, and our eyes are watching the capital, Damascus”.

An unnamed US official has advised the BBC’s US associate, CBS News, that town seems to be “falling suburb by suburb to the rebels”.

Video footage posted on social media confirmed demonstrators chanting and cheering as a statue of President Assad’s late father, Hafez al-Assad, is toppled within the southern suburb of Jeramana.

Damascus residents that the BBC spoke to described the uncertainty there.

“We are afraid because we really don’t know what’s going to happen,” journalist Zaina Shahla mentioned. “Nobody wants to see fighting in Damascus.”

Rim Turkmani, director of the Syria Conflict Research Programme on the London School of Economics, mentioned her sister was nonetheless within the metropolis and had reported that provides had been working low and ATMs had been working out of money.

The whereabouts of the president are the subject of speculation, with recommendations he might have fled the nation. His workplace has denied all such stories, saying Assad continues to be at work in Damascus – however there was no signal of him.

Reports that rebels have seized management of Homs come simply over every week since they launched their lightning offensive – the most important towards the Syrian authorities in years, which has uncovered the weak spot of the nation’s navy.

The authorities has additionally misplaced management of the northern cities of Hama and Aleppo, and armed teams within the south say they’ve taken management of Deraa and Suweida, near the border with Jordan.

More than 800 individuals are estimated to have been killed within the preventing, in accordance with the SOHR.

According to the UN, at the very least 370,000 individuals have been displaced up to now – with many, together with Alawites, fleeing the rebels’ method.

The UN mentioned the preventing was additionally “worsening an already horrific situation for civilians in the north of the country”.

The UN’s particular envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, on Saturday advised the BBC he believed a negotiated manner out of Syria’s escalating disaster was nonetheless potential, however he additionally warned it might additionally go terribly incorrect as soon as extra in Syria.

Pederson mentioned that numerous nations had been involved with the rebels and had pressured the necessity to keep away from chaos and bloodshed.

He spoke after attending a gathering in Qatar with representatives of 5 Arab nations, in addition to Iran, Turkey and Russia – the three main outdoors powers concerned in Syria.

In a joint assertion, the group mentioned the present disaster posed a menace to regional and worldwide safety.