Updated 03.08 | Published 02.21
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full screen Fighting is ongoing on the outskirts of Damascus, the image shows more central parts of the city on Saturday night. Photo: Omar Sanadiki/AP/TT
Islamist rebel forces are entering the Syrian capital Damascus, the Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) announced in a statement.
Gunfire is reported inside Damascus, AFP reports, citing witnesses.
The special forces of the rebel forces are said to have already taken strategic positions in the capital Damascus, reports CNN citing sources. Intelligence units also searched for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the capital overnight.
“The electricity is off, and the internet is very weak, people are staying in their houses,” a resident told CNN, who said the rebels had taken the suburb of Barzeh in the northeast.
Syrian regime security forces reportedly withdrew from Damascus International Airport after a private plane took off from there, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
A spokesman for the fighting jihadists claims they are in contact with high-ranking officials in al-Assad’s regime who are considering surrender, a claim that has not been confirmed.
“We are moving towards victory,” says the leader of the Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in a statement during the night.