BEIRUT: Rebels on a lightning advance through Syria said they were nearing Damascus on Saturday (Dec 7), although Bashar al-Assad’s government denied that the army had withdrawn from areas around the capital.
“Our forces have begun the final phase of encircling the capital,” said rebel commander Hassan Abdel Ghani, of the militant alliance that launched the offensive.
The leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the militant group which has headed the assault, told fighters to prepare to take the seat of Assad’s government, just over a week into a renewed offensive in the long dormant conflict.
“Damascus awaits you,” said HTS’s Ahmed al-Sharaa in a statement on Telegram, using his real name instead of his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
Syria’s defence ministry said army forces were “present in all areas of the Damascus countryside”.
“There is no truth to news claiming our armed forces … have withdrawn” from positions near Damascus, it said.
AFP has been unable to independently verify some of the information provided by the government and the rebels, as its journalists in Syria cannot reach the areas around Damascus where the rebels say they are present.
