Syrian insurgents seize Damascus suburbs while state media deny Assad has fled

Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of Damascus as part of a rapidly moving offensive towards the capital. In recent days, the groups have taken over several of Syria’s largest cities across the country.

Meanwhile, Syria's state news agency has denied rumours that President Bashar al-Assad has left the country, and says he is at work in Damascus.

It was the first time that opposition forces have reached the outskirts of the Syrian capital since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the region adjacent to the capital following a yearslong siege.

It came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern Syria on Saturday, leaving more areas of the country, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.

The rapid advances by insurgents is a stunning reversal of fortunes for the Syrian president, who appears to be on his own as allies such as Russia and Hezbollah are preoccupied with other conflicts.

Hassan Abdul-Ghani, a insurgent commander, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces have started carrying out the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. He added that insurgents were headed from southern Syria toward Damascus.

Syria’s military, meanwhile, sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as militants approached its outskirts.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syria war monitor, reported on Saturday that Iran’s military advisers have started leaving Syria. He added that Iran-backed fighters in eastern Syria, mainly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, have withdrawn into central Syria.

The shock offensive began on 27 November, led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham