Syria: Rebels approach Damascus

CGTN Europe

Following the capture of key cities, including Aleppo and Hama, Syrian rebels approach the suburbs of Damascus for the first time since 2018.   CGTN’s Hydar Kazwini reports the latest developments from Damascus.

Transcript

00:00The Syrian rebels, starting from yesterday,

00:02starting to control villages in southern Syria.

00:06They extended and they expanded until they reached now

00:10around 20 kilometers far from the city center of Damascus.

00:14Now the question is, are they going

00:16to continue to advance till they reach the capital?

00:19This is actually not known.

00:21Given their capabilities and given

00:23their number in those places, this is yet unknown.

00:28They have got some strategic routes

00:30that link the villages with each other.

00:33And they have also taken out the only border crossing that

00:37links Syria to Jordan.

00:39This is the situation right now.

00:41The Syrian military says that something

00:43that they are regrouping in their bases.

00:46They are retreating to their bases,

00:47but they are not withdrawing 100% from southern Syria.

00:52It looks like there are other issues happening

00:54in east of Damascus, even in some places

00:57like that link Syria to the Iraqi borders

01:00near 10th base, which is a base for the United States there.

01:03The rebels also are trying to take some key villages

01:07and routes in that place.

01:08If we move to Homs now, the battles in Homs

01:12can be described only today as skirmishes.

01:15That can be, they are not the vowed battles

01:17that the Syrian opposition have launched in Aleppo

01:20and in Hama city.

01:23It looks like the rebels are still

01:24trying to mobilize their forces to attack the city.

01:27The Syrian military also is mobilizing forces.

01:30Syrian military now started intensifying the airstrikes

01:33and the artillery shelling on the supply routes for those.

01:36Rebels, actually, the situation is dramatic here.

01:39We cannot expect anything.

01:41The people in Damascus, for example, many of them

01:44are leaving to the coastal cities,

01:46where the Russian air bases are stationed.

01:48And many other people are even pouring

01:51into the city of Damascus.

01:52It is chaotic here.

01:54People all rush to the stores to buy the basic items.

01:57Those items are becoming more and more scarce now,

02:00with more, I mean, with higher prices.

02:04It's still undecided what will happen soon,

02:07but this is unprecedented, as I said in the first time.

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