Report: Iran, Russia Withdrawing from Syria as Rebels Approach

Photo Credit: Qasioun News Agency via Wikimedia

Members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the village of Mushairfa, northeast of Hama, after the withdrawal of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the village. Oct. 31, 2017

Iran and Russia began withdrawing from Syria on Saturday evening as jihadist rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly Jahbat al-Nusra) continued their march towards Damascus.

Senior commanders and members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) elite Quds Force were fleeing the country, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 14 News.

A Ukrainian news outlet reported Saturday night that Russia has evacuated its military bases in western Syria and its embassy in Damascus.

HTS commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani told international journalists his forces had reached the Damascus suburbs, The Guardian reported.

The report was confirmed by UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) director Rami Abdurrahman, who said the rebel forces had reached the Damascus suburbs of Ma’adamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Abdurrahman added that the rebel forces were moving from the east towards the Damascus suburb of Harasta.