Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad broke his silence following the collapse of his authorities on December 8, releasing a press release detailing his account of the occasions that unfolded in Syria earlier in December.
“First, my departure from Syria was neither deliberate nor did it happen in the course of the last hours of the battles, as some have claimed. Quite the opposite, I remained in Damascus, finishing up my duties till the early hours of Sunday eighth December 2024,” a press release posted on the Telegram channel of the Syrian presidency quoted Assad as saying on Monday, Russian and Arab media reported.
The authenticity of the assertion, the primary since Assad left Damascus for Moscow final Sunday, couldn’t be independently verified.
“When the state falls into the fingers of terrorism and the flexibility to make a significant contribution is misplaced, any place turns into void of goal,” the assertion added.
Armed militants, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), overthrew the Assad authorities on December 8 following a lightening offensive that was launched of their stronghold within the northwest and reached the capital in 12 days.
“As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Latakia in coordination with our Russian allies to supervise fight operations. Upon arrival on the Hmeimim airbase that morning, it turned clear that our forces had fully withdrawn from all battle strains and that the final military positions had fallen,” the assertion stated, quoting Assad.
Because the safety state of affairs started to deteriorate and the Russian army base in Latakia got here underneath assault, Assad stated Moscow directed the bottom’s command to rearrange “a right away evacuation to Russia”.
Russian media reported that President Vladimir Putin had personally granted Assad asylum in Moscow.
