Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, December 7, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Syria army says it is boosting deployment around Damascus and in south
A portrait of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is displayed in the old city of Syria's capital Damascus on December 6, 2024. (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
The Syrian army says it is strengthening its defense lines around Damascus and in the south, as panic spreads in the capital after the rebels said they are drawing close.
“Our armed units are reinforcing their lines throughout the Damascus countryside and the southern region,” a spokesperson for the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces says in a televised statement. He also says the army is launching operations against rebels in the “Hama and Homs countrysides [in central Syria] and the northern Daraa countryside” in the south.
