Posted on 12/07/24
| News Source: JPost
Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany said early on Sunday that insurgent forces "fully liberated" Syria's central city of Homs.
This comes after Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate, said in a video message on Saturday that the rebels are "in the final moments of liberating" Homs.
Golani called it a "historic moment" and called on his fighters not to harm "those who drop their arms."
The rebels also claimed to have freed over 3,500 inmates from Homs military prison (Baluni prison), posting a video of it to their Telegram channel.
Dozens of fighters from Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces fled Homs after a decision was taken with the Syrian army that the city could no longer be defended, a Syrian army officer told Reuters on Saturday.
Syrian government forces abandoned the key city of Homs on Saturday after less than a day of fighting, leaving President Bashar al-Assad's 24-year rule dangling by a thread with insurgents also advancing towards the capital Damascus.
Since the rebels' sweep into Aleppo a week ago, government defenses have crumbled at dizzying speed as rebels seized a string of major cities and reignited a rebellion in places it had long seemed dead.
The fall of Homs and threat to the capital now pose an immediate existential danger to the Assad dynasty's five-decade reign over Syria and the continued influence there of its main regional backer, Iran.
The most powerful insurgent leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, said in a statement that rebels were on the cusp of taking the whole country and "the end of the criminal regime is near."