After escalation of attacks, Bashar al-Assad resigns as president and leaves Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad resigned from office and left the country after the invasion of Damascus, resulting from an offensive by an Islamic group that intensified in the last ten days. According to international agencies, the information was confirmed this Sunday (8) by Russia, Assad’s ally. A statement issued by the country’s diplomats says that Assad gave instructions “for a peaceful transfer of power”.

According to Reuters, the president of Syria would have left Damascus this Saturday (7), but so far, there is no official confirmation of this information. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali confirmed Assad’s fall and said he was open to cooperating “with any government that Syrians choose” and that he would not leave the country.

The crisis escalated after insurgents took Aleppo, the country’s second largest city, with around two million inhabitants, in the first days of December.

Also this Saturday, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that “the Brazilian government is following, with concern, the escalation of hostilities in Syria” and that it “urges all parties involved to exercise maximum restraint and ensure the integrity population and civil infrastructure”.

Also read: Syria denounces terrorism in Aleppo and accuses external support for extremist groups

Furthermore, it highlights that Brazil “reiterates the need for full respect for international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as Syrian territorial unity and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council”.

The statement also points out that “Brazil supports efforts for a political and negotiated solution to the conflict in Syria, which respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country”.

Itamaraty also reported that it continues to monitor the situation of Brazilians in Syria and that there is no record of nationals among the victims of hostilities. At the same time, he advised Brazilians who are in Syria to leave the country.

Attacks

According to a statement from the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in Brasilia, on November 27, 2024, “terrorist groups led by the al Nusra Front/Syrian Liberation Forces, classified by the UN Security Council as a terrorist organization, carried out a terrorist attack in several axes that targeted locations in the provinces of Idleb and Aleppo”.

Such an attack, according to the note, would aim to occupy the city of Aleppo, which ended up happening, “with the support of thousands of foreign terrorist guerrillas, equipped with weapons and military equipment, especially drones, in addition to the technical support that enabled them to carry out this broad-spectrum attack.”

The Embassy also said that “this terrorist attack which coincides, suspiciously and unmasked, perpetrated by the al Nusra Front/Syrian Liberation Forces, with the Israeli entity’s aggressions against Syrian territories, confirms that it falls within the context of the Zionist plan to spread chaos in the region and fulfill its objectives of destabilizing its security and stability”.

With agencies