More than 50 years of Assad family rule in Syria collapsed with astonishing speed after insurgents burst out of a rebel-held enclave in the country’s north, capturing Aleppo and a string of other cities in a matter of days, before converging on Damascus.

Opposition forces entered the capital with little or no resistance on Sunday as the Syrian army melted away and President Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s ruler for 24 years, fled the country. His sudden demise marks a stunning development in Syria’s devastating 14-year conflict, which began with Assad’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011, at the height of the Arab Spring.

The speed of the rebels’ victory has highlighted Islamist leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani’s success in shoring up a rebellion that looked to be cornered in its last bastion in northwestern Syria. It also exposed the weakness of the Assad regime and just how reliant it was on support from Iran and Russia – which at the crucial moment did not come.

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Source: https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20241208-why-the-assad-regime-collapsed-in-syria-and-why-so-fast

The post Why the Assad regime collapsed in Syria – and why so fast first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Israel acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. But it remained unclear if its soldiers had gone beyond that area, which was established more than 50 years ago. Israel denied that it was advancing on the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the last 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists.

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Source: https://apnews.com/article/syria-israel-airstrike-assad-war-b90edb8dbe8268dacf90e59ca601e2e3

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Assad, who inherited the office from his father in 2000, reportedly slipped out of Syria early Sunday morning as rebels closed in on his palace. He arrived in Moscow later in the day, according Russian state news agency Tass.

A longtime protector of the Assad regime’s, Moscow has granted the 59-year-old and his family asylum after they made their way to the city by private jet, the news agencies reported.

Rebels stormed through the gates of Damascus Sunday where they were met with no resistance from the government’s army. Most gunfire crackling through the streets has come from celebratory shots in the air, while crowds have filled the city squares waving revolutionary flags and chanting “freedom.”

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Source: https://nypost.com/2024/12/08/world-news/bashar-al-assad-and-family-granted-asylum-in-russia-reports/

The post Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and family in Moscow after Russia granted them asylum: reports first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The move, reported by pro-government media and an opposition war monitor, was the latest in the stunning advances by opposition fighters over the past week that have so far met little resistance from Assad’s forces. A day earlier, fighters captured the central city of Hama, Syria’s fourth largest, after the army said it withdrew to avoid fighting inside the city and spare the lives of civilians.

The insurgents, led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have vowed to march to Homs and the capital, Damascus, Assad’s seat of power. Videos circulating online showed a highway jammed with cars full of people fleeing Homs, a city with a large population belonging to Assad’s Alawite sect, seen as his core supporters.

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The post Thousands flee as Syrian insurgents advance to the doorstep of the country’s third-largest city first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

The leader of the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, declared “victory” in Hama and vowed there would be “no revenge”.

Earlier, HTS fighters and their allies took over Hama central prison and released inmates amid fierce battles, while the military said it had redeployed troops outside the city.

Hama is home to one million people and is 110km (70 miles) south of Aleppo, which the rebels captured last week after launching a surprise offensive from their stronghold in the north-west.

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Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cql5r2px4yyo

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Armed Houthi intelligence officers reportedly raided the homes and offices of nine U.N. employees, plus three people who work for a U.S.-funded group called the National Democracy Institute (NDI) and three others who work for a local human rights organization. The nine detained U.N. employees work for the offices of human rights and humanitarian affairs.

In addition to the detentions, Houthi operatives confiscated computers and phones from their targets.

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Source: https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2024/06/07/iran-backed-houthis-abduct-u-n-workers-in-yemen/

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