An unnamed US official has told the BBC's US partner, CBS News, that Damascus appears to be "falling suburb by suburb to the rebels", as fighters opposed to the Assad regime progress along the main road to the Syrian capital.

As we have already mentioned, a video appears to show a statue being torn down by protesters in a southern suburb of Damascus, while fighting is taking place in Syria's third-largest city Homs.

However, the Syrian government denies the rebel takeover in the capital and says that President Bashar al-Assad has not fled the city.

Lina Sinjab
Middle East Correspondent, Beirut

Uncertainty has gripped Damascus. People I've spoken to are worried at news rebels are also advancing from the south. The Syrian army is withdrawing in several places yet the official line in Damascus is that they are crushing the opposition.

In the streets of the capital most shops have closed and basic commodities are scarce. Bread and sugar are hard to find and hundreds are queuing at the few bakeries still operating.

Shopkeepers have either closed up or are refusing to sell anything as the Syrian pound continues its freefall devaluation from 15,000 SYP to the dollar a week ago to 30,000 SYP to the dollar today.

Pro-regime Syrians from the country’s Alawite community are fearful and many have left for coastal cities where they feel safer. Others are staying put.

The Alawites are a minority sect of Shia Muslims from which the Assad family originates. They have long formed a major support base for Assad rule, and are key to the president’s grip on power.

Syrians who opposed Assad in silence and stayed in government-controlled areas are nurturing hope. Almost everyone agrees the rebel advance has already changed things for good. But everyone is worried about the level of violence the regime could deploy to defend its control of the capital and coastal cities.

With rebel fighters progressing towards Damascus, protesters appear to be taking to the streets in the suburbs of the Syrian capital in defiance of President Bashar al-Assad's control.

Video footage posted on social media shows demonstrators chanting and cheering as a statue of President Assad's late father, Hafez as-Assad, is toppled in the southern suburb of Jeramana.

Another statue of Hafez, who was the Syrian president from 1971 until his death in 2000, was torn down in the city of Hama on Friday.

A short while ago, Syria's state news agency claimed "sleeper cells" were publishing clips on social media from public areas of Damascus to suggest they had taken control of them "with the aim of spreading chaos among citizens".

Image source, Reuters

US President-elect Donald Trump says that "Syria is a mess, but is not our friend".

In a post on Truth Social, he adds that " THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!"

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent

The pace of the rebels’ advance in Syria has been astonishing. They are now fighting to seize the country’s third-largest city, Homs, a strategic hub connecting the capital Damascus to the north and the coast, the heartland of President Bashar Al Assad’s Alawite sect.

But it is not only those fighters, led by the Islamist group HTS, who are making progress. Syrian Kurdish troops have essentially taken control of the east, capturing the main city of Deir el-Zor. Insurgents have also advanced in the south, where they achieved a symbolic victory by capturing Deraa, the birthplace of the anti-government protests in 2011 that were brutally repressed by the regime and led to the civil war.

If Homs falls, Assad is in deep trouble as Damascus, the seat of his power, will be encircled. It may be too late for Assad’s key allies, Russia and Iran, to come to his rescue, as they did in the past. Assad turned the tide of the war with the support of Russia’s formidable air power, Iranian advisers and fighters from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese movement.

The Syrian military, demoralised, underpaid and exhausted after years of fighting, is unable – and, parts of it, unwilling – to stop the rebels. In some areas, soldiers seem to be defecting or abandoning their positions, contributing to the offensive’s spectacular advance.

Bashar al-Assad has been in power since 2000. Before him, his father, Hafez, ruled for 29 years - and, very much like his son, with an iron fist. The end of the Assad rule may not be a distant reality.

Image source, Reuters

Syrian rebels entered the city of Homs - the country's third largest city - from the north and east on Saturday, according to multiple sources speaking to Reuters news agency.

The sources include a resident as well as army and rebel sources. The BBC has not yet been able to verify these reports.

Rebel forces in Syria launched their first major offensive in years last week, seizing Aleppo and later Hama. They are now approaching the capital Damascus.

Image source, EPA

The office of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is denying that he has fled the capital, Damascus, as rebels advance along the road between it and Aleppo.

It condemns "rumours and false news", adding that Assad is continuing to perform his duties from the Syrian capital.

Image source, Reuters

Welcome back to our live coverage as Syrian rebel groups are closing in on the capital, Damascus, from the north and south.

Since their offensive began last week, Syrian rebels have seized Aleppo and Hama and are continue to close in on Homs.

The rebel groups have already taken Deraa, which is about 70 miles south of Damascus.

Protesters have brought down the statue of the late father of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a main square in the suburb of Jermana, about 10km from the centre of Damascus, a witness told the Reuters news agency.

A changing chessboard in the Middle Eastpublished at 21:19 Greenwich Mean Time 6 December

21:19 GMT 6 December

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Once again, the chessboard of Middle Eastern power play is being tipped up and reordered.

Who could have foreseen, 14 months ago, that the Hamas-led raid into southern Israel on 7 October 2023 would have quite such far reaching consequences? Because what is happening today in Syria has repercussions not just for countries on its borders but even beyond the Middle East.

Bombing raids by Russia's air force, based at the Syrian airbase of Hmeimim, have been unable to stop the Islamist-led rebels from seizing the two major cities of Aleppo and Hama.

If the rebels press home their advantage and eventually succeed in toppling the repressive Syrian rule of Bashar al-Assad, then Russia's gains in propping up that regime will be undone at a stroke.

Russia does have a back-up plan if it is forced to abandon its Mediterranean naval facility at Tartus. It will likely relocate its forces to Libya, but it would still be a major strategic setback for Moscow.

Iran too, looks likely to be the loser in this situation. Aside from its ally, Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran's principle partner in the Middle East has been Syria's Assad regime. If that were to fall then Iran's power, already waning, will be seriously curtailed.

We'll soon be pausing our live coverage, here's a look at what happened today:

• Islamist-led rebels say they are currently closing in on Homs. They took the city of Hama yesterday and the country's second city Aleppo in the north-west last week
• The leader of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani says they want to overthrow the government and create a new one
• The UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say 20 people, including five children, were killed after Russian and Syrian strikes near Homs
• The UN say at least 370,000 people have been displaced with fears this figure could hit 1.5 million
• The US-backed Kurdish-led militia group, the Syrian Democratic Forces, have seized Deir al-Zour in the east and a border crossing between Syria and Iraq
• Russian and Iranian officials are due to meet with their Turkish counterparts at the weekend to discuss the latest events

To read more about who controls Syria and the impact of these latest developments for the region, head over to our story here.

Syrian rebels leading the offensive against the Assad regime say they have "liberated the last village on the outskirts of Homs city".

In a post on Telegram, Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani says Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces are "now on its [Homs] walls and from here we direct the last call to the regime forces, this is your chance to defect".

In the last hour, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has confirmed Washington is keeping a close eye on developments in Syria.

"We’re closely monitoring the situation in Syria,” Jean-Pierre says during her daily press briefing. “And [we] have been in contact with the countries in the region."

Reading out a statement issued last week by the National Security Council, she reiterates the current situation is the result of the Assad regime's "refusal to engage in the political process outlined in the UNSCR 2254 and its reliance on Russia and Iran".

• The 2015 UN Security Council Resolution 2254 called for a ceasefire and set out a roadmap for the creation of a "Syrian-led and -owned political process"

Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Beirut

The main offensive has continued to advance with astonishing speed – Islamist rebels posted footage they said showed them closing in on Homs.

In an interview with CNN, their leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani, said the goal was to overthrow the Assad regime and install a government that represents all Syrians.

The defence ministry has denied claims that it’s withdrawn troops from the strategic city, which links the capital Damascus with the rest of the country.

Elsewhere Kurdish-led forces say they've taken the city of Deir al-Zour, the government's main foothold in the vast desert in east of the country.

And in the south – Jordan closed its border after a flare up of violence from local armed groups.

Russia’s support has kept President Bashar al-Assad in power throughout the civil war – but it has appealed to its nationals to leave.

Rebel forces in Syria say they have taken full control of the city of Hama and appear to be moving towards Homs - the country's third largest city.

Our colleagues at BBC Verify have been tracking the territory captured by Syrian rebels.

We're now getting reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who say 20 people, including five children, were killed after Russian and Syrian strikes near Homs.

Homs is the third largest city in Syria, and it is where Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - the rebel group leading the offensive - are heading towards after seizing Aleppo and Hama.

According to the war monitor's director, Rami Abdel Rahman, five of those killed were members of the same family.

Image source, Getty Images

Following a meeting with his Iraqi and Iranian counterparts earlier today, Syria’s Foreign Minister Hassam al-Sabbagh denounces rebel forces seeking to take over control from the military.

"I stressed that these interventions have become exposed and disgraceful and aim to achieve historical ambitions and a new division of the region and redrawing of its political map according to the agendas hostile to those parities," Sabbagh told a press conference in Baghdad.

He added that the Syrian army will continue to operate against "anyone who dares to tamper with the security and aspirations of the Syrians".

Image source, Reuters

At least 370,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Syria since rebel forces launched a major offensive last week, with fears that figure could jump to 1.5 million, according to the UN.

"Since the escalation of hostilities, at least 370,000 men, women and children, boys and girls, have been displaced, including 100,000 who left their homes more than once," the UN secretary-general's spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric says.

Earlier, the head of emergency coordination at the UN's World Food Programme Samer AbdelJaber said the number of displaced rose from 48,000 to almost 280,000 in the initial hours after 27 November.

That was when Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions seized control of towns and villages in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, before taking Hama in the north yesterday and closing in on Homs today.

If the situation continues, "around 1.5m people" will be displaced "and need our help", AbdelJaber said.

We can now bring you some photos from Hama, Syria. The city was captured by rebels yesterday, after breaking through the government's defensive line following days of fighting.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

William Armstrong and Nihan Kalle
BBC Monitoring in Istanbul

Turkey backed forces sought President Assad's ousting in the first years of the civil war, however they have more recently prioritised securing the return of Syrian migrants in Turkey and countering Kurdish-led groups in the country's north.

Nevertheless, President Recep Tayyip Erdoganvoiced explicit support for the rebel offensive on 6 December, saying he wished for it to continue "safe and sound" and criticising Assad's lack of movement in previous normalisation efforts with Turkey.

Turkish media coverage has suggested that Ankara would use the meetings in Doha to pressure Russia and Iran to make Assad return to negotiations.

Ankara will make the case that the Syrian government is now under pressure because it never seized the opportunity when it had a chance to "talk with the opposition", the pro-government CNN Turk news channel journalist Dicle Canova , externalsays.

An article on news website 10 Haber similarly suggests that Ankara is expected to push Moscow and Tehran to "force, external , external[Assad], external to come to the table for a political solution, external".

There are questions about the degree of Ankara's influence over the rapidly advancing Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), suggesting potential limits to any agreement struck in Doha.