9 de diciembre 2024
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Insurgent groups have declared Damascus “liberated” from President Bashar al-Assad after a twelve-day offensive led by a coalition spearheaded by the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), along with other factions backed by Turkey to overthrow the Syrian government.
Al-Assad, who ruled the country with an iron fist for 24 years, was granted asylum in Russia, according to a Kremlin source quoted by the TASS news agency. “President Assad arrived in Moscow with his family. Russia, based on humanitarian considerations, offered him asylum,” the source stated.
The resounding success of the insurgent operation, which achieved a swift victory, was attributed to over a decade of training, continuous shifts, a well-coordinated plan among various armed groups, and the low morale of the ousted president’s troops, according to an opposition leader.
Hadi al-Bahra, president of the Syrian National Coalition (CNFROS), the top political body of the Syrian opposition in exile, told EFE from the Doha Forum that the rapid offensive that reached Damascus in just 12 days “was expected,” given that Al-Assad assumed his soldiers were “the same as in 2011,” when the civil war began.
“The opposition fighters have been training and have been given fresh blood. They have learned to use drones, advanced weaponry, and to plan and strategize,” said the politician, adding that Al-Assad’s troops “did not.”
The Operation Against Bashar al-Assad
Additionally, the operation launched on November 27 “caught the regime by surprise” as the insurgents employed a system of three eight-hour shifts to fight relentlessly day and night.
This was compounded by the low morale of the Syrian Army, after the weakening of its allied Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, which has suffered heavy losses during more than a year of hostilities with Israel. Meanwhile, Iran and Russia provided little support to repel the rebel offensive and defend their ally, Al-Assad.
“This time, they didn’t see many Russian (fighter jets), and they knew Hezbollah wouldn’t come to their aid, nor would Iran. Moreover, the regime’s logistical support is very poor. They placed soldiers on the frontlines who, if they got a sweet potato and an egg to eat, considered themselves lucky,” Al-Bahra said.
“They don’t have proper winter clothing to stay warm. They don’t have beds or bathrooms. So why should they fight? For whom? Meanwhile, our fighters are displaced Syrians who want to return to their homes, so they’re fighting to go back to their homes,” he added.
Since the Syrian war erupted in 2011, more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes, according to UN data. Over 7.2 million remain internally displaced, with 70% of the population requiring humanitarian assistance and 90% living below the poverty line.
Transitional Government
Al-Bahra also stated that “there is an agreement that the transitional governing body will not be led by HTS… It will be civilian,” emphasizing that the opposition coalition has established rules to ensure “there is no extremism on the ground, no misconduct, and no human rights violations,” something that “has been working well so far,” even though he has not yet met with HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Julani.
The exiled opposition leader based in Turkey highlighted Al-Julani’s origins as the head of the Al-Nusra Front, the former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, which later transformed into HTS after breaking ties with the terrorist organization.
He also assured that there are currently no internal power struggles within the coalition of opposition forces, while affirming that the goal “is to have a united Syria, not a divided one,” requiring all factions to unify “under one government.”
In this vein, he said there is no intention to dismantle Al-Assad’s party, the Baath Party, after his fall. Instead, it will be restructured into a “normal” political formation to avoid repeating the mistakes made in Iraq after the ousting of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
“If we dismantle it, we isolate them. And if we isolate them, they become extremists,” he noted, adding that Iran and Russia’s interference—Al-Assad’s main allies—will be limited in Syria’s affairs.
From Moscow, reports indicate that Russia is concerned about the security of its bases in Syria. A Kremlin representative stated, “Russian officials are in contact with representatives of the Syrian armed opposition, whose leaders have guaranteed the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions in Syrian territory.”
In Washington, US President Joe Biden affirmed that the United States “will speak with all Syrian groups” in a UN-led transition process to end the era of “brutality” imposed by the Al-Assad family.
In a brief speech from the White House, Biden said, “We have taken note of the statements made by the rebel groups in recent days, and they are saying the right things now, but they have great responsibilities.” Syrian refugees in Serbia, Lebanon, Austria, Spain, and all major Syrian cities celebrated the end of the dictatorship that subjugated their country throughout the entire 21st century. Those living in neighboring countries have already begun returning to their homeland.
This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.
