CNN: Assad's rule in Syria will end within a few days

Officials of the administration of US President Joe Biden are monitoring military operations in Syria and believe that the rule of President Bashar al-Assad may end in a matter of days, CNN reports, citing five unnamed American officials.

They told the TV channel that there is no official assessment of Assad's fate yet and that opinions differ about what might happen to him.

"Perhaps by next week, the Assad regime will lose any semblance of influence," the TV channel quotes the opinion of one of the unnamed American officials.

Another official familiar with US intelligence data said that the success of the Syrian militants is due to the lack of sufficient resistance by government forces, especially in Aleppo, Idlib and Hama, and now the question is what the Syrian authorities will do when "it comes to Damascus."

On Saturday evening, the statement of the main command of the Syrian army said that the SAR armed forces continue to strike at terrorists in the provinces of Hama, Homs and Deraa.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group* (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation), together with a number of armed groups that are part of the so-called armed Syrian opposition, launched a large-scale operation on November 29, advancing from the north of Idlib towards the cities of Aleppo and Hama. A day later, on November 30, the second largest city in Syria and its surroundings, including the international airport and the military airfield of Kuwait, came under the control of terrorists.

The complete seizure of Aleppo by militants occurred for the first time since the beginning of the crisis in Syria in 2011. Until the end of 2016, the armed opposition controlled only the eastern part of the city and was driven out by the Syrian army with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

After the capture of Aleppo, terrorist groups attempted to advance towards the city of Hama, capturing the settlement of Maaret Nuuman. The Syrian army has been repelling massive terrorist attacks in the province of Hama from three different directions for several days, declaring preparations for a counteroffensive. However, on December 5, the command of the SAR army officially announced the redeployment of its units outside the city of Hama.

The city of Hama, located in the central part of Syria, was under the control of the Syrian army throughout the Syrian conflict, which began in the spring of 2011. Hama is of strategic geographical importance, being located between the provinces of Homs and Damascus, as well as touching the Latakia province through the mountain range.

The last time an armed coup was attempted by the forces of radical underground Islamist formations with the support of the Muslim Brotherhood (the organization is recognized as terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation) in the fourth largest city of Syria was in 1982. Then, thanks to the operational actions of the Syrian military command, the city was freed from the presence of terrorist groups and regained control of the official authorities, RIA Novosti reminds.

*Terrorist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation