Islamist rebels advance in Syria as Iran vows support

Rebel forces have advanced on the Syrian central city of Homs and Kurdish fighters have seized effective control of the eastern desert, jolting President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power and triggering local revolts against his rule in the south.

If Islamist insurgents captured Homs in their lightning new offensive, it would cut off the capital Damascus from the coast, a longtime redoubt of Assad’s minority Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base.

In a parallel setback for Assad, a US-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters took Deir el-Zor, the government’s main foothold in the vast desert in the east of the country, three Syrian sources told Reuters on Friday.

It was the third major city, after Aleppo and Hama in the northwest and centre, to fall out of Assad’s control in a week.

Piling on the pressure, two Syrian army sources said the alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had swept through the nearby Albu Kamal border crossing with Iraq.

In southern Deraa province, Syrian local fighters and former rebels overran one of the main army bases, known as Liwa 52, near Herak town as fighting spread to the southern border with Jordan, two rebel sources told Reuters on Friday.

They also seized parts of the Nassib border crossing with Jordan near the customs section where dozens of trailers and passenger cars were stranded, sources added.

After years locked behind frozen front lines, rebel forces have burst out of their northwestern Idlib bastion to achieve the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a street uprising against Assad mushroomed into civil war 13 years ago.

Assad regained control of most of Syria after key allies - Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group - came to his rescue.

But all have recently been weakened and diverted by other crises, giving Sunni Muslim militants a window to fight back.

A senior official in Tehran meanwhile said Iran, which has been focused on tensions with arch-foe Israel since the Gaza Strip war began, would send missiles, drones and more advisers to Syria.

“It is likely that Tehran will need to send military equipment, missiles and drones to Syria ... Tehran has taken all necessary steps to increase the number of its military advisers in Syria and deploy forces,” the senior Iranian official said on condition of anonymity.

“Now, Tehran is providing intelligence and satellite support to Syria.”

The head of the Syrian faction leading the sweeping assault told CNN that his group - a former al-Qaeda affiliate now known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - aimed to “build Syria” and bring Syrian refugees back home from Lebanon and Europe.

HTS is recognised as a terrorist group by the United States, Russia, Turkey and Australia among other countries.

It was Abu Mohammed al-Golani’s first interview since his group began seizing territory from Assad’s forces on November 27.

Rebels have captured two major cities so far and are now thrusting toward the key crossroads city of Homs.

The rebels’ sweep has taken the region by surprise and emboldened other opponents of Assad.

Rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany urged top military officers to defect in a video statement aired on Friday.

At least three people were killed in clashes between Druze militias and security forces in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on Friday, two witnesses and a local activist said.

They said anti-government fighters also seized the main police station and the biggest civilian prison hours after hundreds of people protested in a square demanding Assad’s downfall.

The Israeli military said it was reinforcing aerial and ground forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in southwest Syria and was prepared for all scenarios.

Iran-backed Hezbollah, meanwhile, sent a small number of “supervising forces” from Lebanon to Syria overnight to help prevent anti-government fighters from seizing Homs, two senior Lebanese security sources told Reuters.

But Israel has seriously weakened Hezbollah in fighting in Lebanon this year, assassinating its top officials and devastating its military infrastructure.

HTS rebels said they had also taken over the towns of Talbisa and Rastan, bringing them within kilometres of Homs.

The Syrian military said there was no truth to reports it had withdrawn from Homs, saying in a statement it was deployed along “steady and solid defence lines” there.

A resident of Homs earlier said the offices of Syria’s main security branches there had emptied, with members exiting the city.