The End of Assad? Syrian Rebels enter the outskirts of Aleppo for the first time since 2016

Syrian General Maher al-Assad, brother of President Bashar al-Assad, just said that troop gathering is finished within hours and that the SAA (Syrian Arab Army) will not allow Aleppo to fall.

Is this guy related to Baghdad Bob?

One Of the big step downs by Assad in the years before the civil war started was his outlawing of honour killing, the reaction from much of the country was not good and he had to back down.

In a region where compromise or tolerance is an incitement to attack you, it encouraged his enemies, many of them subsequently came to Europe when they lost but they are not out and may be about to storm through

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Looks like they might be abandoning it entirely.

Turkey is a key player in this, we might end up seeing a split Syria with a big chunk being a Turkish dominated entity .

Turkey looks like being a hostile actor to Europe down the line, its well on that path

Michael D Higgins is going to fly Assad back here on his personal jet. It's been a bad few days for Russian and Iranian terrorist sympathisers.

It looks like Aleppo and many other towns will fall tonight never mind this week. The question is where will Assad's forces regroup and try and hold the line. Losing Aleppo and the surrounding area is already a huge blow but in the next week we could see further changes.

Just a note the Iranian militias who occupied some of the nearby towns completely emptied them of civilians which inevitably worsened the refugee crisis in Europe and Turkey. Running the Iranians out of there will inevitably lead to some locals returning home which is a good thing.

To put Aleppo into context it would be like Ukraine storming Donetsk and retaking it in a 3 day operation. And as we know 3 Day operations are easier said then done.

Seems more militias see this as their opportunity.

The timing of Assad's visit to Moscow and I believe he's still there. I'd say Putin is strangling him the way Homer Simpson would to Bart.

There's a lot of fog of war tonight. Some claiming the city has been abandoned while others say reinforcements will make a stand in the Eastern side of Aleppo. We'll find out tomorrow when day breaks.

https://caliber.az/en/post/president-assad-arrives-in-moscow-amid-rising-tensions-in-syria

Replacing Assad for Isis is certainly no victory.

Bar the Kurds and FSA, think the rest are cnuts. Even have doubts about the FSA.

Another faux concern post

remind us how many women men and children your Russian comrades have raped and exterminated and kidnapped

Never mind the 350,000 civilians in Syria Russians helped kill

I was just about to post this. That city is a million people. All happening while Assad and his family hide in Moscow. Russian aerial bombing not stopping them. In fact it's hurting civilians more going by the images.

I'd been following the progress and they'd been steam rolling towards Hama but I assumed the government would put up a fight there. At this rate they'll be making their stand in Damascus.

The road to Damascus 2024 edition.

Pray there will be a peaceful coexistence between the Kurd and Turkish backed militias.

I disagree. Despise Russian actions in Ukraine, indefensible. But the spread of ISIS and similar jihadis throughout Iraq/syria will result in actual genocide for more moderate muslims and christians in these regions.

Cecil Day Lewis

They who in folly or mere greed

Enslaved religion, markets, laws,

Borrow our language now and bid

Us to speak up in freedom’s cause.

It is the logic of our times,

No subject for immortal verse –

That we who lived by honest dreams

Defend the bad against the worse.

Yeh, it’s kind of creepy seeing people here cheering on the Syrian version of Al Qaeda.

If they do win, the current multi-ethnic/relgious Syria will be torn apart. “Alawites to the grave and Christians to Beirut!” was a chant in 2011.

The Shia and Druze can’t expect much better treatment either. And then the Kurds will be next. Plus any “freethinker” of any description.

gets popcorn 😀