Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is reportedly absent from Damascus, according to a CNN report late Saturday night.
While the Syrian president’s office maintains that Assad has not fled the capital, a source familiar with the situation told CNN that he is not at any of the locations in the city where he would typically be found.
The source added that Assad’s Presidential Guard is no longer stationed at his usual residence, as would be expected if he were present, further fueling speculation that he may have left Damascus.
Traditionally, this guard detail would provide Assad’s inner cordon of security, and some of them would be expected to travel with the president when he is on the move. According to the source, rebel forces have no solid intelligence on Assad’s location and are continuing their efforts to find him.
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Syria’s anti-regime rebels say they have reached “the gates of Damascus,” just a day after launching an offensive in the country’s southern Daraa region.
In a statement shortly after 7 p.m. local time on Saturday, the rebel Free Syrian Army group said its fighters are “at the gates” of the Syrian capital. The southern Syrian rebels began their offensive in Daraa early Friday. In a little over a day, they have gobbled up territory in the southern countryside and now appear to be just a few miles from the city center.
Videos geolocated by CNN show rebels have been active in several pockets of the outer southern suburbs of Damascus since earlier Saturday afternoon.
In Moadamyeh, just 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of the city center, locals were seen celebrating on the streets after driving regime forces out of their suburb, which is near a military airport. Rebels have also claimed control of Darayya, slightly west of Moadamyeh.
