Syrian opposition forces say they have taken control of the city of Daraa in the southwest of the country, moving closer to the capital Damascus.
Rebels are fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in an attempt to get closer to Damascus.
Daraa is where the Syrian uprising began in 2011. The Syrian Defense Ministry has not yet confirmed or denied that the rebels are in control of Daraa.
“Our forces have taken full control of the entire city of Daraa and have begun searching its neighborhoods and protecting its institutions and government offices,” local rebel fighters known as the Southern Operations Room said in a statement Friday evening.
A video, geolocated by CNNshows rebels outside the Daraa administrative building.
The southern factions are different from the northern factions led by , who have already taken two major cities during their offensive that began more than a week ago. Even so, these groups aim for the same goal, which is to overthrow Assad.
The offensive reignited a civil war that had been largely dormant for years. The conflict began in 2011 after Assad moved to end peaceful pro-democracy protests during the Arab Spring.
The fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — joined in, escalating the civil war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the United Nations, with millions more displaced across the region.
On Friday (6), rebels in southern Syria also took control of a crossing on the Syria-Jordan border, after launching a new offensive.
The crossing marks the southernmost point of the main M5 highway, which runs from the city of Aleppo north and through the capital. In a video geolocated by CNNarmed fighters were seen marching down a road near the Nassib border after overthrowing government control.
The rebels in the north, after , advanced south along the highway and on Thursday (5) took the city of Hama. Now they have their sights set on Homs.
And as anti-regime offensives gain momentum both north and south of the capital Damascus, Kurdish-led fighters say they have moved into eastern parts of Syria.
Kurdish forces occupy the northeast of the country, having gained hard-won autonomy during a decade of civil war. They fear that autonomy could now be threatened by Syrian opposition insurgents.
Although the declared target of the rebel offensive is the Assad regime, Kurdish fighters have said they fear the violence could spread to their territory.
Fear of retaliation
Hundreds of people appear to have fled the central Syrian city of Homs overnight on Friday. Videos showed hundreds of vehicles lined up on the highway leading out of Homs as the city braced for violence.
After capturing the northern city of Hama on Thursday (5), the rebels set their sights on the city of Homs, which, if captured, would split the territory under regime control in two.
“From here we direct the last call to regime forces, this is your chance to defect,” Military Operations Media of the HTS-led armed opposition groups said in a statement.
On Friday night, the rebels claimed to have taken the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs, saying they are at the city walls.
The goal of Syria’s rebel coalition, which has wrested two major cities from government control in little more than a week, is ultimately to overthrow the decades-old Assad regime, said HTS leader Abu Mohammad al. -Jolani, at CNN in a
“When we talk about objectives, the objective of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve this goal,” Jolani said.
Homs has a sizable population of Alawites, Assad’s co-religionists, many of whom fear retaliation from rebels who accuse Alawites of dominating the country and supporting Assad’s suppression of the rebellion.
After pulling out of their pocket of territory in the northwestern region of Idlib, the rebels captured Aleppo in three days and Hama in eight, encountering minimal resistance from regime forces who were caught off guard by the lightning offensive.
It is unclear whether regime forces will be able to defend the city of Homs, about an hour’s drive south of Hama.
A CNN was unable to reach several contacts in Homs on Friday amid reports of an internet blackout as rebels approached the city.
The rebels’ progress was met with celebration by many residents of the newly captured cities who had lived under the regime’s rule for years. Videos geolocated by CNN showed rebel fighters celebrating — almost in disbelief at their progress — as they entered Hama.
HTS-led rebels said they had released hundreds of “unjustly detained” people from Hama’s central prison. The city was the site of one of Syria’s biggest massacres in 1982, when President Hafez al-Assad – father of the current ruler – ordered his military to suppress an uprising.
In an interview with CNNJolani, the HTS leader, said his group aimed to create a government based on institutions and a “council chosen by the people.”
Although the prospect of the rapid collapse of the Assad regime was hardly conceivable just over a week ago, Jolani said: “The seeds of the regime’s defeat were always within him… the Iranians tried to revive the regime, biding their time, and later the Russians they also tried to support him. But the truth remains: this regime is dead.”
Regional concerns
The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Syria met in Baghdad on Friday and said in a joint statement that the advance of opposition forces into Syria poses “a serious danger to the three countries, threatens the security of their people and the region as a whole.”
The three countries described the Syrian opposition armed forces as “terrorists”, emphasizing that there was “a need for collective action to confront them”.
Israel has instructed its forces “to maintain a high level of preparedness and continually monitor developments” in Syria as rebels advance, the country’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The Israeli army “is prepared for any scenario and determined to protect the citizens of Israel and protect Israel’s security interests at all times,” the statement said.
The US on Friday urged its citizens to leave Syria “now while commercial options remain available in Damascus.”
“American citizens who choose not to leave Syria or are unable to leave should prepare contingency plans for emergency situations and be prepared to shelter in place for extended periods. Aleppo International Airport is closed,” the State Department said in a statement, citing the “volatile and unpredictable” security situation.
Lauren Izso and Avery Schmitz there CNN contributed to this report
