How long can Bashar al-Assad continue to call himself president of Syria? At the rate at which his regime has been crumbling in recent days, it is barely possible to keep the map of the Syrian rebel advance up to date.
In the city of Homs, northeast of Damascus, the battle is raging between the regime army and the northern rebels, led by the Islamist movement HTS. Completely new since Friday is the advance of a coalition of rebels from southern Syria, around the cities of Deraa and Sweida. The Syrian revolution began there in 2011, and southern rebels already appear to be threatening the Assad regime’s grip on the capital.
They immediately reached the suburbs of Damascus on Saturday afternoon. Video images from the capital also show that the regime is losing its grip within the city limits in no time. In neighborhoods such as Jeramana and Darayya, citizens take to the streets and destroy the ubiquitous portraits and statues of President Assad and his father and predecessor Hafez al-Assad. Soldiers take off their uniform jackets and appear to be walking home, even within a stone’s throw of the presidential palace.
Speech from Assad?
Syrians at home and abroad breathlessly follow the rapid train of incoming news. “I was just talking to my sister in Damascus, she was describing chaos in the streets,” reported Rim Turkmani, a Syrian researcher at the London School of Economics. “People are rushing in panic to stock up on food and supplies. Many shops close. No one knows what is happening and there is no official explanation. People in Syria are now turning to us abroad asking to be told what is happening and what will happen.”
President Assad has not been seen for many days. Rumors circulated on Saturday evening that he would make a televised speech, but that has still not happened. Speculation is rife as to whether he and his family have already left the country, for Russia or the United Arab Emirates. The presidential administration on Saturday denied those “rumors and false news.” “The president works and fulfills his national and constitutional duties from the capital,” it said.
Interior Minister Mohammed al-Rahmoun said on state television that there is “a very strong military cordon on the outer edges of Damascus and in the surrounding countryside, and no one can break this defense line.” It is not clear whether that cordon exists, and where. In principle, the regime should still have some elite brigades, but it is unclear where they are active. Assad’s allies, such as Russia and Iran, appear to be already packing their bags.
Just eleven days ago, the northern rebels launched their attack on the metropolis of Aleppo and achieved their first major success there. Now rebels are advancing from the north and south towards the capital, where there is a picture of a regime in chaos. Time seems to be running out dramatically for the dictatorial, bloody rule of President Assad, who has been in power since 2000.
“While waiting for a speech from Assad, the Syrian army chief of staff gives a speech on television. He reports that the regime is taking control of the situation and is trying to contain the chaos,” wrote Syrian journalist Hassan Hassan on X. “He refers to ‘sleeper cells’ that are trying to control some neighborhoods. State television plays national songs and shows images of a tireless army.”
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