World ‘surprised’ by how quickly Assad’s Syria collapsed, Austin says
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(LONDON) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday that the international community was “surprised to see that the opposition forces moved as quickly as they did” in Syria as President Bashar Assad’s government collapsed in the face of a surprise rebel offensive.
“Everybody expected to see a much more stiff resistance from Assad’s forces,” Austin said while in Japan, during what is expected to be his last trip to the Indo-Pacific region as defense secretary.
The speed of developments, he added, “was surprising, I think, to most everybody in the international community.”
Damascus’ fall to rebel forces on Sunday marked “a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their country,” President Joe Biden said in a post to X, adding, “It is also a moment of risk and uncertainty.”
U.S. forces are already moving to suppress any hint of an ISIS resurgence in central and eastern Syria, where hundreds of American personnel have been active for several years alongside Kurdish forces to defeat the remnants of the jihadist group.
U.S. forces launched 75 strikes on ISIS targets in central Syria on Sunday to “disrupt, degrade and defeat” the group, the head of the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Austin said the strikes were designed “to keep the pressure on ISIS.”
“As this unfolds, there’s a potential that elements in the area, such as ISIS, could try to take advantage of this opportunity and regain capability,” he explained.
“We’ve been tracking ISIS as a part of our ‘Defeat ISIS’ campaign for some time, as you know, and we’ve seen cells trying to strengthen and develop additional capability out in the Vidalia Desert and those strikes were focused on those cells,” Austin said.
U.S. forces are “still evaluating the results, but I think that we’re going to find that we’ve been pretty successful,” Austin said.
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(LONDON) — One person was killed and least six others, including a pregnant woman, were injured in Kyiv as Russia launched more than 100 drones in an overnight strike into New Year’s Day, Ukrainian military and civilian officials said.
“In war, there are no holidays, and for Russia, nothing is sacred or inviolable,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “It spares no one, killing people even amidst New Year celebrations, starting a deadly countdown from the very first day. The world must not allow tyranny and dictatorship to go unpunished or endorsed in the new year.”
Ukraine’s air force said at least 111 attack drones were launched toward 10 regions throughout Ukraine, including the capital. Ukraine shot down 63 of the drones and another 46 failed to strike a target, the military said.
“As the world marks the first day of the New Year, Russia launched 111 drones at the people of Ukraine,” U.S. Ambassador Ambassador Bridget A. Brink said on social media. “We are thankful for the air defenders and first responders whose tireless heroism protects us all.”
Ukraine began the new year under “another massive air attack,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk, the chair of Ukraine’s parliament.
“These inhumans decided to give us a hot start to the year and, like real weaklings and cowards, continued to hit civilians,” Stefanchuk said on social media. “I wish the victims a speedy recovery.”
Air raid sirens began blaring before sunrise in Kyiv, urging people to make their way to shelters, the Kyiv City State Administration said.
Most of the injured were in the city’s central Pecherskyi neighborhood, where the strike started a fire in an apartment building, Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor, said in a post in Ukrainian on the Telegram messaging app.
“Two of them were hospitalized. Two were treated on the spot by doctors,” Klitschko said. A pregnant woman was among the injured, the city administration said in a statement.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said one person had been killed in that strike on a residential building.
Falling debris also broke windows, started a fire in a garage and damaged trams in the western Sviatoshynskyi neighborhood, Klitschko added.
“The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine,” the air force said.
(LONDON) — Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said late Monday that his forces “will not hesitate to hold accountable” alleged war criminals and torturers that operated as part of President Bashar Assad’s toppled regime.
Jolani — whose real name is Ahmed al-Sharaa — and his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces are the most prominent of the rebel factions that defeated Assad’s government after 14 years of civil war. HTS and its ally rebel groups — operating under the umbrella Syrian Salvation Government — are now working to assert control of the wartorn nation.
Rebel forces offered a general amnesty for all conscripted Syrian military personnel. But Jolani said in a statement that the new authorities will seek “just punishment” for those accused of involvement in the regime’s alleged human rights abuses.
“We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people,” Jolani said in a statement posted to the rebels’ Military Operations Command Telegram channel.
“We will pursue war criminals and demand them from the countries to which they fled so that they may receive their just punishment,” he added.
Authorities will also prepare a wanted list “that includes the names of the most senior officials involved in torturing the Syrian people,” Jolani said. “We will offer rewards to anyone who provides information about senior army and security officers involved in war crimes.”
Crowds of rebel fighters and civilians descended on Assadist prisons as the regime collapsed during a 10-day surprise offensive. Rebel forces freed prisoners in every major city they passed through on the road to Damascus.
The most infamous facility was the Sednaya prison in the capital, which is believed to have held thousands of people. The prison has previously been described as the “Human Slaughterhouse” by Amnesty International.
Footage from inside showed rebels and local residents surging through its corridors to free groups of men, women and children from cells.
A former prisoner at Sednaya — Omar Alshogre — told ABC News that the prison “is known to have women” and that detainees there have been subjected to sexual abuse.
“Some women give birth and the children born and grew up in prison,” Alshogre said. “They don’t see anything but the walls of the cell. They do not know what a ball is or a bird is or a tree. This is not knew but it’s always shocking to see the pictures of it.”
The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, appealed for information on suspected secret areas of the prison where it feared detainees were still being held. The group said it concluded its search on Monday having failed to find any “unopened or hidden areas.”
“Specialized teams conducted a thorough search of all sections, facilities, basements, courtyards, and surrounding areas of the prison,” the White Helmets said in a statement.
“These operations were carried out with the assistance of individuals familiar with the prison and its layout,” it added. However, no evidence of undiscovered secret cells or basements was found.”
The White Helmets said there are “thousands who remain missing and whose fates are unknown.”
Assad fled to Russia as the rebels closed in on the capital. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin will grant his Syrian ally political asylum.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told journalists on Monday that “the people of Syria are probably going to want him to return home and stand judgment for his crimes in Syria.”
Asked whether Assad might stand trial at the International Criminal Court, Miller responded, “If he’s not going to return home from Russia, I doubt he’s going to transfer himself to The Hague, leaving Russian protection either.”
ABC News’ William Gretsky and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Russia launched a record-high 188 strike drones into Ukraine on Monday night and Tuesday morning, expanding its long-range campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure to coincide with the onset of winter.
Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram that it downed 76 drones. Another 95 were lost in flight — possibly due to jamming efforts — and five flew into Belarus.
Russia also fired four Iskander-M ballistic missiles as part of the assault, the air force said. None were shot down.
“Unfortunately, critical infrastructure objects have been hit, and private and multi-apartment buildings have been damaged in several regions due to a mass attack by UAVs,” the air force wrote.
Recent weeks have seen a clear intensification of Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, with the scale and regularity of such attacks on the rise. The previous largest attack of 145 drones occurred on Nov. 10.
As in previous winters, Russia is attacking critical energy infrastructure in a bid to deny Ukrainians power and warmth through the coming freezing months. Temperatures in Ukraine have already fallen below freezing and will remain low until early spring.
Monday night’s drone attack damaged energy infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, Serhii Nadal — the head of the local regional defense body — said on Telegram.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, reported the downing of at least 39 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions on Monday night. The ministry reported no damage or casualties.
