President’s Bashar Assad’s forces are struggling to contain advances from rebels around the cities of Homs and Deir el-Zour. Jordan has shut its only border crossing to Syria. DW has the latest.
The rebel offensive in recent days has dealt devastating blows to the power of Syrian President Bashar Assad
Rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) advance on Homs as thousands flee, monitor says
Kurdish forces move into Deir el-Zour as Assad forces withdraw
Armed groups south of Damascus, in Daraa and Sweida, also seized government facilities
Jordan and Lebanon shut border crossings
Russia urges citizens to leave Syria
The Kurdish-led SDF has maintained control of large parts of north-eastern Syria since helping defeat the so-called ‘Islamic
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance led by Kurdish fighters, which had long controlled most of northeastern Syria, advanced into areas of Deir el-Zour province formerly held by Assad’s forces on Friday.
“In order to protect our people, our Deir el-Zour Military Council fighters were deployed in Deir el-Zour city and west of the Euphrates River,” the Arab-majority council affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement.
Prior to the movements of the last few days, SDF controlled the parts of the region east of the Euphrates.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported columns of Assad forces moving southwest out of the region, headed for the historical desert city of Palmyra along a route that would lead to the capital.
The oil-producing region of Deir el-Zour borders Iraq and had been a key point of entry for Iranian-backed groups from Iraq fighting alongside Assad’s forces.
