Live: Rebels announce full control of Syria’s third largest city Homs

Syrian rebels say they have begun entering Damascus

Hezbollah withdraws forces from Homs, Damascus outskirts

Hezbollah is pulling its forces from the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus and the Homs area, a source close to the Lebanese group said Sunday, as their ally President Bashar al-Assad faces a rebel offensive.

The group “has instructed its fighters in recent hours to withdraw from the Homs area, with some heading to Latakia (in Syria) and others to the Hermel area in Lebanon”, the source told AFP, noting that “Hezbollah fighters have also vacated their positions around Damascus.”

Intense sounds of shooting heard in centre of Syrian capital Damascus, two residents say

Intense sounds of shooting were heard in the centre of the Syrian capital Damascus, two residents said on Sunday as rebels march towards the capital.

It was not immediately clear where was the source of the shooting, two residents who live in a residential area close to the centre of the capital said.

Syria rebels say their forces control Homs, eye Damascus

Islamist-led rebels announced Sunday they had captured the strategic city of Homs, on the way towards Damascus where Syria’s embattled government said it was setting up an impenetrable security cordon.

The defence ministry earlier denied rebels had entered Homs, describing the situation there as “safe and stable”.

But the leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said their control over Homs marked a “historic event that will distinguish between truth and falsehood”.

The capture of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, would cut the seat of power in the capital Damascus from the Mediterranean coast, a key bastion of the Assad clan which has ruled Syria for the past five decades.

Hassan Abdel Ghani, a leading commander of the Islamist-led rebel coalition, said the group’s “operations continue to fully liberate the Damascus countryside”.