Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew out of Damascus for an unknown vacation spot on Sunday, as rebels stated that they had infiltrated the capital with no signal of military deployments.
Syrian military items deserted their positions on the outskirts of Damascus on Saturday evening, fleeing the advance of rebel forces.
The army stated it was “reinforcing” defensive traces across the capital, which appeared to have collapsed.
Folks journey a tank within the Syrian southern metropolis of Daraa. Regime forces have left many weapons behind – Sam Hariri/AFP by way of Getty
Mohammed al-Rahmoun, the Syrian inside minister, earlier stated there was a “very robust safety cordon on the outskirts of Damascus and nobody can break it”. However the Syrian opposition fighters early on Sunday disproved this, as they reached the capital for the primary time since 2018.
The Syrian regime fell again from the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs in fast succession for the reason that rebel offensive started lower than two weeks in the past.
Within the civil warfare of 2011 to 2016, the Assad regime turned the tide in opposition to opposition forces with the help of Russian airstrikes and Hezbollah troops.
Each Moscow and Iran, Hezbollah’s key sponsor, have their consideration elsewhere on conflicts elsewhere.
It has left the Syrian military with out a lot help within the face of the lightning insurgent offensive led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group.
Analysts informed The Telegraph that low pay and morale in addition to little expertise had been hampering the effectiveness of the military.
“The Syrian military has by no means been excellent – it dominated by worry and terror, bolstered and backed up by Russians since 2015 who supplied firepower and course. A lot of the officers had been chosen as a result of they had been near Assad,” stated Hamish de Bretton Gordon, a retired British military colonel and a chemical weapons adviser to NGOs working in Syria and Iraq.
“The commanders… are extra targeted on smuggling and extortion than on truly creating defensive positions and main their troops,” stated Greg Waters, of the Center East Institute.
The military has largely prevented heavy fight since a ceasefire was struck with the rebels in 2020 firstly of the pandemic.
Opposition fighters take away a authorities Syrian flag from an official constructing in Salamiyah, east of Hama – Ghaith Alsayed/AP
“The military’s collapse is a mirrored image of a extra normal collapse in Syrian state establishments,” stated Jihad Yazigi, editor-in-chief of the Syria Report.
“There’s a deep sense in regime areas that issues aren’t solely not bettering, however that there aren’t any prospects of issues getting higher,” he added.
Stephen Prepare dinner, a Center East professional on the Council of International Relations, informed The Telegraph that the majority of the Syrian military was made up of conscripts who “didn’t wish to be there”.
“Solely the elite items just like the Republican Guard may ever be relied upon to battle,” he added. “That’s why Assad introduced in Hezbollah.”
Mr Prepare dinner described president Bashar al-Assad’s military as a “Soviet-style” army that has large issues with provide and logistics.
Syria has additionally develop into a serious producer and provider of medication in recent times, which has led to state establishments like the military successfully turning into nodes of an organised crime community.
An enormous portrait of the Syrian president overlooks emptying streets in Damascus – Omar Sanadiki/AP
Along with his troopers retreating on all fronts Assad this week introduced that he would increase their salaries by 50 per cent, a transfer that specialists recommend was a knee-jerk try to deal with longstanding morale points.
“The truth that the safety forces melted away is a little bit of a shock, nevertheless it’s not an enormous shock, to be trustworthy,” added Natasha Corridor, a senior fellow of the CSIS Center East Program.
“They didn’t have the type of morale to face up in opposition to one thing like this.
“We overlook that they’ve additionally misplaced lots of people all through this warfare, we overlook that, you realize, [Assad’s] Alawite sect has been impoverished within the mountains for a lot of, many many years.
“It’s not as if they’ve gained an ideal deal from this regime. It’s that the Assad regime has used the sectarian narrative to make them imagine that that is an existential problem for them.”
A regime army automobile deserted on the aspect of a street close to Hama – Omar Haj Kadour/AFP by way of Getty
Good preparation, techniques and skilful use of propaganda on the a part of the rebels additionally seems to have put the Syrian military right into a state of shock. HTS has officers, particular forces items, drone forces and night-time commandos.
“The rebels combating in the present day are a really totally different power to these the regime fought earlier than. They’re higher geared up and disciplined … I assume Turkey had a robust hand on this. They’ve probably the most to achieve,” stated Mr Waters.
Giant numbers of military deserters have laid down their arms and surrendered to the rebels, with a protracted queue forming in Idlib after they had been provided amnesty.
Source link
