Syrian rebels said on Saturday they had taken control of the southern city of Daraa, where the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, the fourth city his forces have lost in a week.
Rebel sources said the army had agreed to withdraw from Daraa under a deal that gives military officials access to the capital Damascus, about 100 km (62 miles) to the north. Videos on social media showed rebels on motorbikes and others mingling with residents on the streets. The footage showed people firing into the air in the city’s main square in celebration.
The army and Assad’s government have not commented, and Reuters could not independently verify the rebel claims. With Daraa’s fall, Assad’s forces have handed over four major centers to the rebels in a week.
Daraa, which had a population of more than 100,000 before the civil war began 13 years ago, holds symbolic importance as the cradle of the uprising. It is the capital of a province of about a million people that borders Jordan.
Daraa was seized after rebels said on Friday they had advanced to the edge of the central city of Homs, a key crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean coast. Taking Homs would cut off Damascus from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, as well as from the naval and air bases there of his ally Russia.
“Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of Homs and are now inside the city walls,” the Syrian group leading the all-out offensive said on the Telegram messaging app.
A coalition of rebel groups that includes Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has issued a final appeal for forces loyal to Assad’s government in Homs to defect. Ahead of the rebel advance, thousands of people have fled Homs for the coastal regions of Latakia and Tartus, government strongholds, residents and witnesses said.
