Syria: Jihadist Fighters Enter Damascus
A radical Islamist front has entered the Syrian capital. President Bashar al-Assad has allegedly fled the country. The transfer of power is being prepared with the participation of current Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al Jalali.
After the lightning seizure of the cities of Aleppo and Homs, the situation in Damascus deteriorated in a matter of hours overnight from Saturday to Sunday. The Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has taken control of the capital. Media offices and state television were occupied, after which the Islamist-led rebels declared “the beginning of a new era in Syria.”
Al Jazeera TV reported that Islamists stormed a military prison where numerous Syrian dissidents were being held.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported Sunday morning (December 8) that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country before the capital was captured: “Assad left Syria through Damascus International Airport before members of the armed and security forces left the city,” an OSDH spokesman said.
And there is already talk of power transfer, which, with the cooperation of current Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al Jalali, “could happen quickly.”
In a message posted on social media, Mohammed Ghazi al Jalali said he was “ready to cooperate with the new leadership.” For his part, jihadist leader Abu Mohammed Al Jolani ordered his fighters “not to attack the buildings of institutions” that “should remain under the supervision of the ousted government until the transition is completed.”
In this context, the rebels called on their compatriots displaced abroad by the conflict that began in 2011 to “return to a free Syria.” International media reminds that for 13 years of intra-Syrian conflict, “more than 500 thousand people have died, the country is divided into zones of influence, with the warring parties supported by various foreign powers.”
