Insurgents advance in Syria: Army Withdraws, Assad Denies Fleeing

Insurgents' stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.

The rebels' moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.

The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Mr. Assad's government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army.

For the first time in the country's long-running civil war, the government now has control of only four of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Homs, Latakia and Tartus.

The U.N.'s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an "orderly political transition." Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Mr. Assad's chief international backer, said he feels "sorry for the Syrian people."

In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria's border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country.

Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price.

"The situation is very strange. We are not used to that," the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions.

"People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not."

It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution.

Mr. Assad's status

Syria's state media denied social media rumors that Mr. Assad left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus.

He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia, is busy with its war in Ukraine. Lebanon's Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Mr. Assad's forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria.

Mr. Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015, and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections.

Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Mr. Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria. No details were immediately available.

The insurgents' march

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were marching toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added.

A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the "final stage" of their offensive by encircling Damascus.

HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a "salvation government" to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, al-Golani has sought to remake the group's image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance.

Syria's military, meanwhile, sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts.

The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, and the central city of Hama, the country's fourth largest city.

Opposition activists said Saturday that a day earlier, insurgents entered Palmyra, which is home to invaluable archaeological sites had been in government hands since being taken from the Islamic State group in 2017.

To the south, Syrian troops left much of the province of Quneitra including the main Baath City, activists said.

Syrian Observatory said government troops have withdrawn from much of the two southern provinces and are sending reinforcements to Homs, where a battle loomed. If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, Mr. Assad's seat of power, and the coastal region where the president enjoys wide support.

The Syrian army said in a statement that it carried out redeployment and repositioning in Sweida and Daraa after its checkpoints came under attack by "terrorists." The army said it was setting up a "strong and coherent defensive and security belt in the area," apparently to defend Damascus from the south.

The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011.

Diplomacy in Doha

The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey, meeting in Qatar, called for an end to the hostilities. Turkey is a main backer of the rebels.

Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Mr. Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country's underlying problems. "Assad didn't seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people," he said.

Sheikh Mohammed said he was surprised by how quickly the rebels have advanced and said there is a real threat to Syria's "territorial integrity." He said the war could "damage and destroy what is left if there is no sense of urgency" to start a political process.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writer Zeina Karam reported from London. Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.