New Prime Minister to Syrians: Come home

Published 12 December 2024 at 13.29

Foreign. The curfew in the Syrian capital Damascus and surrounding areas has been lifted after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's secular regime. The new jihadist transitional government, led by Mohammed al-Bashir, is now calling for Syrian refugees to return to the country.

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Mohammed al-Bashir, who was previously regional jihadist leader in a breakaway state in northwest Syria, was named interim prime minister on Tuesday.

He will lead the transitional government until March 2025 after the jihadists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was previously officially part of al-Qaeda, quickly took control of Damascus.

The prime minister is now calling on the Syrian citizens who fled Syria to return home, Xinhua reports.

Bashar al-Assad fled the country in connection with the offensive, which ended 50 years of the Assad family's rule.

p>HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has vowed to bring justice to the “victims” of the Assad regime and has announced that torturers will not be spared. At the same time, the new leadership is trying to appease the country's religious and ethnic minorities with promises of protected rights.

In northeastern Syria, Kurdish forces have entered into a US-brokered ceasefire with Turkish-backed militias in the strategic city of Manbij, where fierce fighting has raged. In total, over 218 fighters have been killed in the last few weeks' violent clashes.

At the same time, Turkish-backed forces have captured Tal Rifaat in northern Syria, further weakening Kurdish forces in the region. Ankara views the Syrian Kurdish YPG, which dominates the US-backed SDF forces, as an extension of the terrorist-branded PKK.

However, Iran downplays the significance of Assad's fall, claiming that its influence in the region has not been affected. At the same time, Qatar is preparing to reopen its embassy in Damascus and promises support for Syria's reconstruction.

The humanitarian situation in the country is also serious. According to the UN, the population suffers from severe food shortages, overcrowded hospitals and widespread displacement. The price of bread has increased by 900 percent, and over a million people have been forced to flee since the jihadists began their offensive at the end of November.