concerned about the deteriorating situation in Syria, the Government of India put out a late-night advisory to all Indian nationals to completely “avoid all travel to Syria until further notice”.
In the statement, which shared an emergency helpline number and an email ID, the Ministry of External Affairs appealed to all Indians currently in Syria to “remain in touch with the Indian Embassy in Damascus”.
New Delhi’s urgent notification also stated that “Those who can, are advised to leave (Syria) by the earliest available commercial flights.” For those who cannot, the advisory asked them to “observe utmost precaution about their safety and restrict their movements to the minimum.”
The emergency helpline number shared is for the Indian Embassy in Damascus. It is +963 993385973. This number can also be used on WhatsApp the statement read, adding an emergency email ID as well – which is hoc.damascus@mea.gov.in. Updates shall be shared once the staff is contacted, the advisory stated.
Syria is in the midst of a political turmoil, with the Russia and Iran-backed Bashar Al-Assad regime finding itself surrounded by rebel groups and militias which are backed by Turkey. Rebel forces have, over the last week, pressed a lightning offensive across Syria aiming to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
The Islamist-led rebels were at the gates of Syria’s Homs, a war monitor told news agency AFP. Several other Syrian cities have fallen out of government control – some without even a bullet having to be fired.
The offensive by the Islamist rebels have been so swift, that Syria’s second city Aleppo and strategically located Hama have already fallen from President Bashar al-Assad’s control. This has happened for the first time since the civil war began in 2011.
Bashar al-Assad’s clan has ruled Syria for the past five decades, but for the first time ever, it has looked truly vulnerable to a total collapse. Should the rebels capture Homs, it would cut the seat of power in the capital Damascus from the Mediterranean coast, a key bastion of Bashar Assad.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, by Friday morning (local time), the Islamist rebels were less than five kilometres from the edge of Homs.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS rebel alliance, has categorically said that the goal of this offensive is to overthrow Bashar al-Assad and end his rule in Syria.
“When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal,” Jolani told CNN in an interview.
The Islamist rebel alliance conducting the offensive that began on November 27 is led by HTS, which stems from the Syrian branch of the Al Qaeda, but has sought to moderate its image in recent times.
Turkey, which has extended its full support to the rebels, said on Friday that its Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan shall be meeting his Russian and Iranian counterparts this weekend in Qatar for an emergency discussion on the situation in Syria.
Meanwhile, the political wing of the HTS-led rebel coalition has reportedly reached out to Russia and China to support them in their “struggle for liberation” from the decades-old Syrian regime headed by Bashar al-Assad. They have reportedly informed Moscow and Beijing that they would like to officially establish diplomatic ties with both countries.
The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq, and Syria also met on Friday in Baghdad to discuss the goings-on in Syria.
Russia, which is heavily invested in the war in Ukraine, has not yet revealed how it is reading this situation and what its next step will be, but Moscow has hinted for providing limited support to the Bashar Assad regime to defend itself against the rebels.