Syrian rebels in the suburbs of Damascus, the rebel commander
The Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of Damascus, opposition activists and rebel commanders said on Saturday, in order to move destructively, which; they occupied some of the cities of Syria is continued
Rami Abdurrahman, who is president of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the rebels were active in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya.
He said opposition fighters were also coming from the east of Syria towards Damascus, a suburb of Harasta.
Hassan Abdul-Ghani, a rebel commander, posted on Telegram that opposition forces had begun encircling Damascus in the “final stage” of their offensive. He said the fighters were heading towards Damascus from southern Syria.
We will bring you live updates on this developing story.
Key events
Protesters carried a statue of the late father of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the main street in the suburb of Jerman, about ten kilometers from the center of Damascus, witnesses and activists told Reuters.
Protesters in the mainly Druze-dwelling suburb, which they called Assad’s stronghold, also targeted government buildings in an area of the capital’s heavily fortified capital, where several security branches are located, they said.
The protesters asked the security services to demand that they leave their area, activist Ryan Marouf, editor of Suwayda 24, a website that covers the province, told Reuters.
The authorities have tolerated most of the protests of the country’s Druze minority, unlike in other government-held areas, where demonstrators are fired upon by security forces.
Bashar al-Assad in Damascus – state news agency
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remains in Damascus and is conducting his work in the capital, the Syrian state news agency said on Saturday.
Anti-government protesters tore down a statue of Assad’s late father Hafez in the Druze and Christian state of Damascus, in the suburb of Jaramana, on Saturday, witnesses told Agence France-Presse.
A witness said he saw dozens of protesters tearing down a statue on the main street in Iaramana, which bears the name of the former president. Another witness said the statue was broken when he went to the square afterwards. Video footage circulating online and verified by AFP shows young people throwing the statue and chanting anti-Assad slogans.
About two thousand Syrian soldiers crossed the border into Iraq and took refuge, Turki Al-Mahlawi, mayor of the border town of Al-Qaim, told Reuters.
A number of troops were wounded and currently receiving additional medical treatment.
Syrian rebels in the suburbs of Damascus, the rebel commander
The Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of Damascus, opposition activists and rebel commanders said on Saturday, in order to move destructively, which; they occupied certain cities of Syria is continued
Rami Abdurrahman, who is president of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the rebels were active in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya.
He said opposition fighters were also coming from the east of Syria towards Damascus, a suburb of Harasta.
Hassan Abdul-Ghani, a rebel commander, posted on Telegram that opposition forces had begun encircling Damascus in the “final stage” of their offensive. He said the fighters were heading towards Damascus from southern Syria.
We will bring you live updates on this developing story.