DUBAI, December 9. /TASS/. The conflict between pro-Turkish groups and Syrian Kurdish forces, coupled with Turkey and Israel's interference in Syria's affairs and the escalating terrorist threat, could trigger significant destabilization in the country after the armed opposition's takeover of Damascus, Iran’s Vatan-e Emrooz newspaper said.
According to the publication, "Syria will at best face the same fate as Libya." However, "the presence in Syria of various international actors and military factions with differing and sometimes opposing views, alongside massive stockpiles of weapons in the hands of various ethnic and religious groups," will result in "Syria enduring a much graver fate than Libya."
The Israeli incursion into the buffer zone on the border with Syria after President Bashar Assad was overthrown and the Syrian army withdrew from those regions indicates that "Israel will not merely watch the situation unfold and will seek to secure its own interests," the newspaper pointed out.
On December 8, the Israeli army officially announced the deployment of its forces in the buffer zone along the border with Syria. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, these actions were taken in response to recent developments in the country and are of a defensive nature. On December 9, Israeli authorities reported that they were establishing an additional security zone on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights, beyond the buffer zone they control.
On November 27, members of armed opposition groups launched a large-scale offensive against government forces' positions in Aleppo and Idlib Governorates. By the evening of December 7, opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad had captured several major cities: Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Deraa, and Homs. They entered Damascus on December 8, after which Syrian army units withdrew from the city. The head of the Syrian government, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, expressed his readiness for a peaceful transfer of power in the country. According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, Assad resigned as president of Syria and fled the country, instructing for the peaceful transfer of power.