ON THE RAMPAGE
Syria braced for ‘mother of all battles’ as 30,000-strong rebel army bears down on Homs & vow to depose Assad
Watch the latest footage from the lightning offensive below
SYRIA was braced for the “mother of all battles” as rebels reached the outskirts of Homs – the country’s third largest city – and vowed to march on to capital Damascus.
Russia ordered its civilians to flee as Turkish-backed fighters surged southwards, a week after seizing Aleppo.
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Turkey’s President Erdogan said: “The target is Damascus.”
He said he hoped the lightning advance continued "without any issues”.
The main rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani vowed to topple Syria’s tyrant president Bashar al-Assad.
The boss of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group known as HTS said: “The goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime.”
His troops seized towns three miles from Homs and footage appeared to place them in city’s outskirts last night.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British based war monitor, said: “The battle of Homs is the mother of all battles and will decide who will rule Syria.”
If Homs falls it will cut Damascus from its Mediterranean coast including a key Russian naval base at Tartus.
At the same time US-backed Kurdish rebels seized the city Deir Azzor, in eastern Syria.
Sources claimed Syrian government troops and an Iranian militia fled without any warning.
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The Syrian Democratic Forces had taken full control of the city by Friday afternoon.
Syria’s foreign minister Bassam Sabbagh held crisis in Baghdad with counterparts from Iran and Iraq.
Watch as Syrian Islamist rebels tear down Assad statue in ‘Saddam moment’
Turkey’s foreign minister is due to hold similar talks with Assad’s allies Iran and Russia in Qatar on Saturday.
Israel said it was reinforcing positions in the Golan Heights which overlook southern Syria.
President Assad’s regime spent years battling civil war rebels for control of Aleppo and Homs
They eventually won with significant help from Iran’s proxy Hezbollah and Russian carpet bombing.
But HTS rebels – formerly linked to Al Qaeda – launched a surprise attack last week while Russia, Iran and Hezbollah were distracted with other conflicts with Israel and Ukraine.
Kyiv said it proved that Russia “cannot fight on two fronts”.
But a spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry denied backing the rebels.
He said: “Ukraine categorically and decisively rejects any accusations … about our supposed involvement in the deteriorating security situation in Syria.”
It comes as Syria's elite Tiger Forces have been forced to flee from Hama as the rampaging HTS rebels march on towards Damascus.
While the opposition continues to wrestle for control over major cities across the country, its leader has vowed to overthrow Assad's regime.
The rebels said they had taken full control of Hama on Thursday after the military withdrew its troops from the city.
Hama is a strategic city linking Aleppo to the capital Damascus - marking another devastating loss for Assad.
It's expected that the Syrian military will attempt to regain the city using the infamous Tiger Forces - but the militia have failed in preventing rebel advances so far.
The so-called "elite forces" are linked to the feared Syrian air force intelligence - with its former head wanted by France and Germany over the alleged murder of civilians in Syria's civil war.
Unconfirmed reports claim the Syrian opposition have seized Assad's warplanes at Hama airport as HTS continue to spread their control across the country.
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Now the next critical battle for power is set to take place in Homs - which experts believe could suffer a siege similar to Aleppo's.
Thousands of Homs civilians have already fled their homes as government troops desperately put up barriers in the north of the city.
If the rebels were to take over Homs, Damascus would then be cut off from the coastal region which is a stronghold of Assad's sect - and is also where his Russian allies have a naval base and airbase.
According to HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the goal is to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad.
Since the lightning offensive, he has spoken out about his plans to create a government based on institutions - and even a "council chose by the people."
Jolani told "When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal.
"The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it… the Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time, and later the Russians also tried to prop it up.
"But the truth remains: this regime is dead."
In late November HTS launched its surprise offensive on Syria - with the rebels progress taking lightning speed.
They took control of the country's second-largest city Aleppo before capturing the city of Hama a mere few days later.
Since the offensive, Assad has repetitively suffered unbelievable losses, which have also affected his pals and allies Iran and Russia.
HTS were designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US in 2018 and has since tried to show a more sensible image to gain power in Syria.
Jolani said that civilians didn't fear the management of rebel-held areas as those who "fear Islamic governance" have either "seen incorrect implementations of it or do not understand it properly".
The controversial leader added: "We are talking about a larger project – we are talking about building Syria.
"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is merely one part of this dialogue, and it may dissolve at any time.
"It is not an end in itself but a means to perform a task: confronting this regime."
Opposition fighters stormed through Aleppo last week, ousting Russian forces from at least three military bases "without meeting great resistance", a Syria war monitor said.
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The ferocious march into the city in armoured trucks and tanks resulted in hours of bloodshed as the rebels battled with Russian-backed guards.
But the Islamist troops succeeded and seized the city - Syria's second largest.
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