Chronology of the eleven-day offensive that toppled Bashar Al-Assad

The Syrian rebels announced their entry into Damascus in the early hours of December 8, just eleven days after launching an offensive against the government of Bashar Al Assad. Here is the chronology of the offensive:

– November 27: An insurgent coalition led by the Levant Liberation Organization (heir to the former Syrian branch of Al Qaeda), backed by Turkey, begins an offensive against the government of the Syrian president. The Islamists manage to cut the highway connecting Aleppo to Damascus and control other major arteries in the north of the country.

– November 28The rebels take over most of Idlib province, in the northeast of the country, where a ceasefire agreed between Turkey and Russia has been in place since 2020.

– November 29: The jihadists manage to enter five neighborhoods in the west of the city of Aleppo, in northern Syria and the country’s second largest city, after three days of offensive against regular Syrian forces.

– November 30: Aleppo falls with little resistance. The Levant Liberation Organization and Turkish-backed armed factions are consolidating their control over virtually the entire city and neighboring Idlib province after capturing the strategic town of Maarat al Numan, held by the Syrian army since 2020, and later Khan Sheikhun, bordering the Syrian army , have taken. the administrative demarcation of Hama, in north-central Syria.

– December 1The Damascus government is mobilizing diplomatic channels to gain political support to stop the rebel offensive, while the Islamist factions are establishing their dominance in Aleppo, where other armed groups operate, mainly Syrian Kurdish, and continue their offensive towards Hama, in the center of the country.

– December 2: Death toll exceeds 500 after six days of offensive. Iran’s President Masud Pezeshkian reaffirms his support for Syria and offers “all assistance” to Damascus. The Syrian army and its Russian allies launch airstrikes on insurgents on the outskirts of Al Safira, southeast of Aleppo.

– December 3: The Russian Ministry of Defense announces naval maneuvers near the coast of Syria, with the use of new-generation hypersonic weapons. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance led by the Kurds, in turn announce that they have “taken responsibility” for seven cities in eastern Syria, previously controlled by Syrian government forces and Iranian militias.

– December 4: The foreign ministers of Russia and Egypt, Sergei Lavrov and Badr Abdelaty respectively, discuss the conflict in Syria.

– December 5Islamist insurgents announced they have “completely” dominated the city of Hama, in central Syria, just hours after entering the country’s fourth-largest city, adding their strategic capture to that of Aleppo.

– December 6: The jihadist alliance continues its offensive towards the city of Homs, as the Syrian army tries to resist and hold off the advance to prevent a new provincial capital from falling.

– December 7: Local groups in the province of Deraa, in the south of the country and bordering Jordan, manage to control the regional capital, cradle of the 2011 uprisings framed in the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, while Druze groups dominate the city of Al Sueida, capital of the province of the same name east of Deraa.

The Syrian government’s two main allies, Iran and Russia, and the armed opposition’s biggest supporter, Turkey, are taking closer positions to request a cessation of hostilities and start a dialogue to end the war in Syria .

– December 8: Al Jolani declares victory after rebels control Damascus and Assad flees the country.