Insurgents advanced across Syria on Saturday, reaching the suburbs of Damascus and raising concerns about President Bashar Assad’s government’s stability, AP reported.
Opposition sources and a rebel commander confirmed the moves, which followed a strategic withdrawal of Syrian army forces from the country’s southern regions.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group linked to al-Qaida and designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations, led the offensive. The advances, which included seizing control of several provincial capitals, marked one of the opposition’s most significant achievements in years while Syrian forces offered little resistance.
For the first time in the 13-year civil war, Assad’s government holds only four of Syria’s 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Homs, Latakia, and Tartus.
In Damascus, anxiety gripped the population. Thousands of residents rushed to stockpile food and essentials as rumors of an impending battle spread. Many fled to Syria’s border with Lebanon, hoping to escape the escalating conflict.
AP reported that shops across the capital closed, and those that remained open reported skyrocketing prices for basic goods such as sugar, with some items selling for three times their usual cost.
This is the first time since 2018 that opposition forces have neared Damascus, raising fears of prolonged conflict in the capital. In response, the U.N. began relocating noncritical staff out of the country as a safety measure.
Meanwhile, Syria’s state media rejected claims that President Assad had fled Damascus, maintaining that he remains in the capital and continues to perform his duties.