Aletho News

HTS extremists take control of Homs, no clashes reported as Syrian army withdraws

The Cradle | December 8, 2024

Extremist armed groups battling under the banner of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of the strategic city of Homs in central Syria on 7 December, after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) “repositioned its forces” outside the city with no clashes reported.

“The SAA, paramilitary forces, and allies of the Syrian government withdrew from the city of Homs … No clashes were recorded in or around the city before orders were given out to soldiers to withdraw,” Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Homs reported late on Saturday.

According to local sources, fighters from the Turkish-backed HTS and Syrian National Army (SNA) have taken control of “every neighborhood in the city.”

HTS, a UN-designated terrorist organization, launched a shock invasion of the Aleppo countryside on 27 November. Their numbers were reportedly bolstered by extremist groups from Central Asia that entered Syria via Turkiye. Ukrainian special forces have also been providing support to the armed groups.

Over the past 10 days, HTS and SNA fighters – most of them former members of Al-Qaeda and ISIS – have taken control of the cities of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs.

As the offensive gains speed, the SAA has repeatedly chosen to redeploy troops outside battle zones, largely avoiding clashes.

Homs is strategically positioned at a crucial crossroads between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces, Latakia and Tartus – the government’s stronghold and home to a vital Russian naval base.

Al Mayadeen reports that, after leaving Homs, the SAA has also withdrawn “from the mountains of Latakia towards the city on the Syrian coast.” The Syrian army also withdrew from the eastern Deir Ezzor governorate earlier this week under an “agreement” with the US-sponsored Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

With Damascus now in sight of the extremists, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has ordered reinforcements to the Hermel area, which borders Syria and is located around 40 km away from Homs.

“The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it… the Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time, and later the Russians also tried to prop it up. But the truth remains: this regime is dead,” HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, a former Al-Qaeda warlord and deputy of the notorious ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, told CNN earlier this week.

Since the start of the offensive, western media launched a blitz to promote Julani and HTS as “diversity-friendly” moderates that will protect Syria’s religious minorities.

During the US-led war on Syria that began in 2011, the Nusra Front (HTS’ former name) and ISIS carried out large numbers of massacres of Christians, Shiites, Alawites, Yezidis, and even Sunnis who were supportive of the governments of Iraq and Syria.

“We called for an immediate end to hostile activities … and for this purpose called for the dialogue between the government and legitimate opposition,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday from Doha after meeting his Turkish and Iranian counterparts.

Moscow has been providing aerial support for Damascus since the start of the offensive, killing hundreds of HTS and SNA-allied extremists.

December 8, 2024 - Posted by aletho | Wars for Israel | ISIS, Syria