Published December 7, 2024last updated December 7, 2024Local armed groups have taken control of most of Daraa province, including Daraa city, a war monitor says. This comes as a rebel alliance moves in on Homs after taking two other key cities. DW has more.
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Rebels have seized the central city of Hama, while opposition factions have taken control of much of southern Daraa provinceImage: Kasim Rammah/Anadolu/picture allianceSkip next section What you need to knowWhat you need to know Foreign ministers from Turkey Russia and Iran will meet in Doha to discuss developments in Syria Syrian government forces no longer control Daraa city, a war monitor says Rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are at the gates of Homs Here are the latest developments in the Syrian civil war on Friday, December 6:
Skip next section Turkish, Russian and Iranian foreign ministers to meet in DohaDecember 7, 2024
Turkish, Russian and Iranian foreign ministers to meet in DohaThe foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Iran are to meet in the Qatari capital, Doha, to discuss the escalation of violence in Syria amid the lightning rebel offensive.
Despite supporting opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, the three countries have been working together since 2017 to end the conflict in the so-called Astana process.
Both Moscow and Tehran have offered military help to Syrian President Bashar Assad as he faces a renewed flare-up, while Ankara seems to approve the rebel offensive.
Russia first entered the civil conflict in Syria in 2015 at Assad’s request and aided him in regaining two-thirds of the country after his regime lost control of large swathes of territory to various rebel actors.
Iran sees Assad’s Alawite-dominated Ba’athist government as an important Shiite ally in the region that acts as a counterweight to Saudi Arabian and US influence.
Ankara, meanwhile, is interested in a stable Syria to enable the return of the nearly 3 million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey. At the same time, Turkish forces are deployed in Syria’s northwest to fight Kurdish forces, seen by Ankara as a threat to the Turkish state.
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Skip next section Local groups take over most of Daraa province: War monitorDecember 7, 2024
Local groups take over most of Daraa province: War monitorLocal opposition groups have taken control of most of the southern Daraa province, including Daraa city, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“Local factions have taken control of more areas in Daraa province, including Daraa city … they now control more than 90% of the province, as regime forces successively pulled out,” the Observatory said.
The developments in Daraa come as an Islamist-led rebel alliance has taken the key cities of Aleppo and Hama in the north and center of the country in what is seen as a major challenge to President Bashar Assad’s power.
Daraa province, which borders Jordan, was dubbed the “cradle of the revolution” early in Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2012.
It was there that activists accused the government of detaining and torturing a group of boys for writing anti-Assad slogans on walls at their school in 2011, leading to anti-regime protests that were brutally repressed.
The province has experienced considerable unrest in the past few years despite a truce brokered by Russia, one of Assad’s staunchest allies.
The opposition-affiliated Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has been monitoring the civil war in Syria by means of a wide network of witnesses on the ground.
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