NEW YORK, December 8. /TASS/. Syrian President Bashar Assad may lose his power as early as next week, according to some US officials, CNN reported.
"Probably by next weekend, the Assad regime will have lost any semblance of power," the channel quoted an unnamed US official as saying, adding that there is a growing consensus within the US administration that such a scenario is becoming increasingly likely.
Meanwhile, the channel points out that views within the US government on the potential development of events differ. A CNN source familiar with US intelligence indicated that the terrorists have advanced in areas where government troops' presence was minimal, and the main question now is whether the Syrian Armed Forces will be able to successfully defend Damascus.
On November 27, the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group (banned in Russia) carried out a major attack in northern Syria. The Syrian military command later said the army had to fall back from Aleppo to regroup and prepare for a counterattack.
On December 5, the command of the Syrian Armed Forces announced that militants infiltrated into several neighborhoods of Hama. According to a statement from the command, government forces in charge of defending Hama were pulled out of the city.
On December 7, the Syrian Defense Ministry announced that military units operating in the south of the country were being regrouped in accordance with the military’s strategic plan.