Iran withdraws IRGC commanders, civilians from Syria: Report

Iran has started withdrawing its military commanders from Syria as rebels knock on the doors of Homs, the third key city on the brink of getting captured.

A report by the New York Times quoted sources as saying that among the personnel pulled out of the rebel-hit country are Quds Forces, a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.

Guards personnel, Iranian diplomatic staff, and civilians are also among those being evacuated, according to officials. Some evacuees are being flown to Tehran, while others are departing by land through Lebanon, Iraq, or the Syrian port of Latakia.

Syrian rebels were poised to press their lightning advance on Saturday after reaching the edge of the central city of Homs, with government forces attempting to buttress collapsing frontlines and save President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule.

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Besides capturing Aleppo in the north, Hama in the centre and Deir al-Zor in the east, rebels rose up in southern Suweida and Deraa, saying on Friday they had taken control of the two cities and posting videos showing insurgent celebrations there.

Turkey, Iran and Russia to discuss Syria

Meanwhile, Turkey will attend a meeting with the Russian and Syrian delegations in Qatar on Saturday to discuss the escalating civil war in Syria.

Both Moscow and Tehran have offered military assistance to Assad to help him ward off the rebels while Ankara has supported various rebel movements and looked on their recent lightning advances favourably.

The meeting between the three nations will take place under the Astana process initiated by Kazakhstan in 2017, aimed at achieving a political resolution to Syria’s civil war.

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Hezbollah sends ‘supervising’ forces to Homs

A report by Reuters says that Hezbollah has sent a few “supervising forces” to Homs from Lebanon to Syria to help prevent anti-government fighters from seizing the strategic city.

“Homs must not fall,” one of the sources told Reuters, adding that senior officers deployed overnight to oversee some Hezbollah fighters who had been in Syria near the border with Lebanon for years.

With inputs from agencies