Marking the End of Assad's Rule in Syria

"As his military failed to hold Aleppo and then Hama, Assad issued an order raising soldiers' salary by 50% - but that in itself is unlikely to turn the tide."

"Russian planes backed up Syrian forces in Hama, but clearly not strongly enough to make an impact.

The lack of all out Russian military support has fuelled speculation that Moscow may be less able to play the game changing role that it performed in Syria in 2015. That would be down to almost three years of war in Ukraine, draining its reserves of manpower and military hardware."

"But Russia still has compelling reasons to stay the course with Assad. President Putin's decisive, full-scale military intervention, which kept the Syrian leader in power when he was close to defeat, showed up the failure of Western allies - the US in particular - to honour their promises of support to the rebels."

BBC

Rebel fighters hold weapons in front of the Hama governor's building on Dec. 5 after Syrian rebels captured the city during their advance across northern Syria. (Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters)

On Thursday, Syrian insurgents entered Hama following days of intense clashes with government forces. The Syrian army contended its withdrawal from Hama after insurgents broke its defences was merely a tactic on their part to protect the civilian population. But it's clear that the weeklong offensive has bought large parts of Syria firmly under the insurgents' control.

 

Hama, Syria's fourth largest city, saw the Syrian army 'redeployed' taking positions outside the city, ostensibly to protect civilian lives. In all likelihood the next target for the insurgents will be the central city of Homs, the third largest in Syria, about 40 kilometres south of Hama. Homs is the gateway to Damascus, Assad's capital seat of power and control of the coastal region where he has his support base of Alawite Syrians.

 

The de facto chief of the Syrian insurgency, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, announced through a video message that the insurgency has taken the city of Hama in a "conquering that is not vengeful, but one of mercy and compassion". Somewhat like the sanctimonious statements of the Taliban when they took Kabul, attempting to reassure the international community that they had changed since the Western occupation of 2001; they were kinder and gentler, and would welcome international investors. As they went about their death-search for Western collaborators and supporters of the West-backed government.

Al-Golani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al0-Sham, one of al-Qaeda's branches in Syria, is considered a terrorist group and with good reason. Following three days of fighting with government forces on the outskirts of the city, the Syrian insurgents took Hama. After 'resisting' the insurgents for days, the Syrian military stated that a number of troops were killed, accusing the attackers of relying on suicide attacks to break through the city's defences. 

 

A charge that will certainly fail to embarrass and humiliate the insurgents whose methods are no different from that of the Islamic State, and who doubtless treated the statement with the jeering humour it deserved.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in Britain, explained that after fierce battles within Hama, opposition gunmen took control of police command headquarters as well as the airbase and central prison. Hundreds of prison detainees were free to leave. "If Hama falls, it means that the beginning of the regime's fall has started" Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory's chief, stated, prior to the city's capture. 

An umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army, appears to be fighting alongside the jihadi group HTS in the offensive. The conflict which began with a popular uprising in March of 2011 has been reignited after recent years of stagnation. Hama's fall to the Islamist group of terrorists without doubt features the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule following the stunning capture of Aleppo.

 

Syrian Islamist rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani speaks at an unknown location in this still image from 2016 file video obtained on Dec. 5, 2024. (Orient TV/Reuters )

 

"The HTS leader known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, issued a message to the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, pledging that the fighting in Syria “will not spill over into Iraq”, and urging al-Sudani’s government to “distance itself from the situation in Syria”."

"Speaking to CNN, al-Jolani said the insurgents’ aim remains to topple the Assad regime in Damascus.

“When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal,” he said."

The Guardian