Syria live: rebels say they have captured Damascus as Pentagon says US will keep presence in eastern Syria – latest updates

Last Update: 2024-12-08 14:00:04 - Source: The Guardian

Bashar al-Assad reported to have fled Syria as US says it will maintain presence and try to prevent resurgence of Islamic State

  • Bashar al-Assad reported to have fled Syria as rebels say they have captured Damascus

As a reminder, US President-elect Donald Trump said earlier in a post on Truth Social that Bashar al-Assad had “fled his country” after losing the backing of Russia.

Trump, who has said America should have “nothing to do” with events in Syria, posted:

Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.

Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success. Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.

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