Syrian rebels enter Damascus after seizing Homs as Assad’s forces retreat and residents flee the capital.
Syrian opposition forces entered Damascus early Sunday as residents reported gunfire and explosions throughout the capital, according to The Associated Press.
The government evacuated Damascus airport and halted all flights, according to pro-government radio station Sham FM. The rebels advanced into Damascus after capturing Homs, Syria’s third-largest city.
Large celebrations erupted in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli after rebels announced the “total liberation” of Homs, according to Reuters Iraq bureau chief Timour Azhari. Opposition forces also breached the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of Damascus, claiming they had “liberated our prisoners.”
The loss of Homs represents a potentially crippling blow for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The city stands at a crucial intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s strongholds and home to a Russian naval base.
U.S. officials increasingly acknowledge the possible fall of the Assad regime within days, calling it “an increasingly plausible scenario”, CNN reported, citing five U.S. officials. “The Assad regime will have lost any semblance of power” by that time, one official said, while another noted that “only thing that would delay a rebel conquest would be a well-organized coup and reorganization.
