The rebels say they have reached the “final phase” of their offensive. Insurgents have also advanced in Homs. All developments in the news blog.
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11.30 p.m.: The Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who came under pressure from attacking rebels, is said to have asked the USA for help. This is reported by the Bloomberg news agency. She refers to diplomatic circles. He is said to have offered to give up control of large parts of Syria or to leave the country if he was granted safe passage.
Another offer is said to have been for Syria to break off relations with the terrorist organization Hezbollah. US President-elect Donald Trump had previously called for the US not to get involved in the Syria conflict.
11:10 p.m.: Ahmed Al-Dalati, a spokesman for the rebels, said in the evening that all axes around the city of Homs were controlled by the anti-Assad forces. There were clashes with Hezbollah terrorists stationed in military facilities in Homs.
9:55 p.m.: According to activists, the strategically important city of Homs has fallen to the Syrian rebels. The government troops have withdrawn from the city, said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel-Rahman of the German Press Agency. Syrian military circles said the armed forces were repositioning themselves around the city of Homs.
Syria’s third largest city lies between Aleppo in the north and the capital Damascus in the south. It is also in a strategically important position between the coastal strongholds of President Bashar al-Assad’s government and Damascus. This will make it increasingly difficult for Assad to turn the page again.
9:43 p.m.: The leading rebel group in the offensive against the Syrian government has ruled out using chemical weapons. The aim was to assure the international community that the Syrian government’s chemical weapons arsenal would be handled responsibly, said a statement from the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
“We clearly emphasize that we do not intend to use chemical weapons.” They will also not allow them to fall into irresponsible hands, the statement continued. The group also announced that it would seek international cooperation in monitoring the arsenal.
According to human rights organizations, the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against its own population several times in the civil war that has been ongoing since 2011. Assad did not fulfill a promise made under international pressure to destroy his arsenal.
9:44 p.m.: The lightning advance of the rebels in Syria indicates that the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad could fall within the next week, government circles from the USA and other Western countries tell the Reuters news agency.
9:14 p.m.: In Syria, rebels say they have taken over the central prison in the city of Homs and freed hundreds of inmates. Another insider said the militants had begun to advance deeper into the city after breaking through army defenses at the city’s eastern gate.
Residents of Homs report that they could see that government troops had withdrawn from the city. Personnel from the security center fled on motorcycles. Homs is the most important city in central Syria and a transport hub crucial for connecting to the capital Damascus and the coast.
7:50 p.m.: Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the Islamist group HTS, which is spearheading the rebel offensive, said in a message on Telegram to his fighters: “We are now at the gates of Homs and Damascus, and the fall of the criminal regime is near “. Al-Jolani also promised that all Syrian soldiers who surrendered to the rebels or stayed home without taking part in the fighting would be safe.
