Syrian President Bashar Assad remains in Syria as of Friday, though Egyptian and Jordanian officials have urged him to leave the country and form a government in exile, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The advice reflects the regime’s rapidly deteriorating position amid the ongoing offensive being led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels. They have captured Aleppo and Hama, two of Syria’s largest cities, and are poised to strike at Homs, the last major city under regime control on the road to the capital of Damascus.
The capture of Homs would also cut off Damascus from the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, predominantly Alawite areas that are home to Assad’s most loyal supporters and the site of Russia’s Mediterranean naval base.
Government resistance appears to be crumbling elsewhere as well, with U.S.-backed Kurds taking the city of Deir al-Zour in the east on Friday and rebel uprisings around Daraa province near the border with Israel.
According to WSJ, Assad’s wife and children traveled to Russia last week, and his brothers-in-law have departed for the United Arab Emirates.