What you need to know about the flare-up of the Syrian civil war

On Sunday, the long civil war appeared to have come to a head as Syrian rebels entered the capital Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad fled the country as his government appeared to collapse.

Rami Abdulrahman, who heads the British-based opposition war monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told The Associated Press that Assad left Damascus by plane on Sunday. Two senior Syrian military officials also told Reuters that Assad left Damascus on Sunday for an unknown destination. The White House indicated to CBS News that it had no knowledge of Assad’s whereabouts.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali said early Sunday that he remained in Damascus and that his government was ready to “reach out” to the rebels and hand over their functions to the interim government, according to the Associated Press. .

Abdulrahman earlier said rebels were active in the Damascus suburbs of Mahdamiya, Jaramana and Daraya. He added that rebel fighters were also marching from eastern Syria towards Harasta, a suburb of Damascus.

Rebel commander Hassan Abdulghani also claimed early Sunday local time that rebel forces had “completely liberated” the central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest city, according to Reuters.

What is happening in the Syrian civil war?

Thousands of people fled the area amid a dramatic escalation in the civil war. The civil war has smoldered for years without any significant progress on either side. The rebels launched a shocking attack About 2 weeks ago.

It comes about a week after the rebels took full control of another city, Hama, and launched a sweeping assault across the country’s north. Their first major accomplishment in the offensive was the capture of Aleppo, long Syria’s second most populous city, a week ago.

Their sudden advance has surprised many observers of the long-simmering conflict, with SOHR announcing that more than 820 people, including more than 100 civilians, have been killed since the conflict began. are.

Syrian rebels say their aim is ‘still toppling Assad’

The Syrian war began in 2011, when a pro-democracy movement seeking an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s long rule quickly escalated into a brutal civil war. Since then, the conflict has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced around 12 million people.

The war appeared to have stalled after Assad’s regime regained control of many cities with support from Lebanon’s powerful Iranian proxy Hezbollah, as well as Russia and Iran. Some areas in the north and east of the country remain under the control of Kurdish-led, US-backed rebels. However, the current attacks are mainly led by the extremist group Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), which has openly sought to distance itself from its jihadist roots as a regional branch of al-Qaeda.

With Assad’s backers Iran, Russia and Hezbollah now embroiled in other conflicts, the rebels are believed to be seizing the opportunity to resume fighting against Assad’s forces.

HTS leaders told CNN in a recent interview that the goal of the attack was to remove President Assad from power.

“When we talk about goals, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime,” Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani told CNN. “The seeds of the regime’s defeat were always within the regime…The Iranians tried to buy time by restoring the regime, and then Russia also tried to prop it up. But the truth remains: this regime is dead. .”

Syrian rebel attacks worsen humanitarian crisis

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the recent fighting, many heading to Raqqa province, which is occupied by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Despite an agreement to allow safe passage for evacuees from Aleppo province, more than 120 vehicles carrying hundreds of civilians were attacked by various Syrian Islamist groups while in transit, SDF officials said. told CBS News. Local authorities say the humanitarian situation for those who have arrived in safe areas is dire.

Approximately 136 schools in Raqqa and 63 schools in Tabqa City are serving as temporary shelters for internally displaced persons. Raqqa Stadium, once used as a prison when ISIS militants controlled the territory, has also been turned into a camp providing shelter from the cold for displaced civilians.

“The situation is catastrophic,” Zwane Mullah, a member of the local crisis response team, told CBS News. “The number of internally displaced people far exceeds what we can help. UN and NGO support so far has been very minimal.”

Saeed Mohammad Hassan, 53, fled from near Aleppo to Raqqa. Along the way, he gets separated from his wife, Saba. Hassan, like many civilians separated from their loved ones during evacuations from combat zones, approached a local radio station to appeal for a reunion in Sabah.

“Many people are approaching us through different routes, looking for their missing family members who have remained silent on safe roads,” Silwan Haji Baako, head of ARTA FM radio, told CBS News. spoke. “We are trying to help as much as possible to find the missing person through radio and social media platforms.”

Associated Press

contributed to this report.

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