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LIVE UPDATES: Syrian rebels say President Assad has fled as they declare they have captured capital Damascus

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18+ Trending Video| Watch Now: Husband Beat Wife To Death Because She Refused To Give Him H0t $ex.US President Joe Biden is monitoring the “extraordinary events” in Syria, the White House has said. We will bring you more reactions to the developments in Syria as we get them. There are reports of celebrations starting in Umayyad Square, a landmark in the heart of Damascus home to important government agencies, including the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian Armed Forces. ...Tap To Read The Full Story Here | ..Tap To Read The Full Story Here...

A video circulating on social media shows music being blasted and about a dozen people dancing around a tank reportedly abandoned by the military.

Syrian defence ministry officials have reportedly withdrawn from their headquarters in Damascus.

Matt Spivey
Live page editor

We’re hearing conflicting reports from rebel groups and the Syrian military over who is in control of the key city of Homs.

So, who’s saying what?

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, anti-Assad fighters entered the city of Homs and “took control of several neighbourhoods”.

Rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghani says his troops are combing the neighbourhoods of Homs ahead of declaring the city “completely liberated”.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that dozens of fighters from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces fled the Syrian city of Homs, a decision reportedly made with the military, a Syrian army officer tells Reuters.

However, Syria’s defence ministry said that news “about terrorists entering the city of Homs is unfounded”, adding that “armed forces are deployed around the city, positioned in strong defensive lines reinforced with various types of weapons”.

The Syrian army says it’s bolstering defences around the capital, contradicting reports its forces had withdrawn from some areas.

The BBC has not yet been able to verify claims that rebel groups have taken control of Homs.18+ Trending Video| Watch Now: Husband Beat Wife To Death Because She Refused To Give Him H0t $ex.

David Gritten

Rebel forces are reportedly approaching Syria’s most notorious military prison, Saydnaya, where thousands of opposition supporters are said to have been tortured and executed, and thousands more could currently be detained.

Photos posted on social media purportedly taken by rebel fighters suggested they were in sight of the prison, which is about 30km (18 miles) north of Damascus.

Pro-opposition news outlets also reported that troops from the Syrian army’s 127th Brigade, which is tasked with defending the prison, had withdrawn from the nearby town of Rankhous.

One post on a pro-opposition Telegram channel said that Saydnaya was “within firing range of its liberators and that, God willing, soon all detainees would be liberated”. Another Telegram user wrote: “The human slaughterhouse is within the sights of the mujahidin”.

In 2017, Amnesty International used the phrase “human slaughterhouse” to describe Saydnaya in a report alleging that between 5,000 and 13,000 people had been executed there in total secrecy during the first five years of the civil war.

The human rights group also alleged that the executions had been authorised at the highest levels of the Assad government, and that such practices amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The government at that time dismissed Amnesty’s claims as “baseless” and “devoid of truth”, insisting that all executions in Syria followed due process.

Syrian rebels leading the offensive against the Assad regime say they have “liberated the last village on the outskirts of Homs city”.

In a post on Telegram, Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani says Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces are “now on its [Homs] walls and from here we direct the last call to the regime forces, this is your chance to defect”.18+ Trending Video| Watch Now: Husband Beat Wife To Death Because She Refused To Give Him H0t $ex.

Syria map showing rebel advances on Hama and Homs

Sebastian Usher
Middle East regional editor

The speed with which the status quo in Syria – however unresolved and unsatisfactory – has been turned on its head in recent days has been extraordinary.

Syrian government officials and supporters were still asserting the army would hold the line at Hama, even as insurgent fighters were entering the city.

Shortly afterwards, the Syrian military acknowledged that it had pulled out of Hama, ceding control of the city for the first time to rebel factions.

After capturing two major cities within a week, the next target for the insurgents led by the Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is Homs.

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing the city in anticipation of what looks likely to be the next major battle.

The stakes have risen precipitously for President Bashar al-Assad and his key backers, Russia and Iran.18+ Trending Video| Watch Now: Husband Beat Wife To Death Because She Refused To Give Him H0t $ex.

Homs is strategically considerably more significant than either Aleppo or Hama. It straddles a crossroads that leads west to the heartland of support for the Assad dynasty and south towards the capital, Damascus.…Read -T.he.Full_Article.Here.

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