The expert warned that the topping of Assad could force the Russian leader to do something crazy (Image: Getty)
“might do something crazy” in response to the fall of his ally regime in , a defence expert has warned.
Robert Fox made the warning on GB News as he explained how the in the would comes as a significant strategic blow due to having two major military installations in the country.
He warned that western leaders should be wary of what the might do next.
Mr Fox said: “The big question is, how much of ’s military is now trapped in ?
“The fact that Putin’s ambitions in the region have been thwarted should be no comfort because he might do something crazy.”
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The fall of Assad could have profound implications for Putin (Image: Getty)
Syrian rebels had made huge gains of land across prior to Damascus falling over the weekend.
Assad, who had ruled the country since his father’s death in 2000, fled the country as rebels entered the suburbs of Damascus, eventually seeking refuge in Moscow.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who leads the largest rebel group in the country, has sought to distance himself from his previously expressed jihadi views and has vowed to protect Syrian minorities but Fox is dubious.
He explained that Christians in the country are under threat. “They are always under threat as a minority, they always have been and they always come up last.
“Al-Golani has said all of this but people are saying he really wants a Taliban-lite regime, but look at what he’s done, look at his PR.
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The fall of the regime has been celebrated in Syrian communities around the world (Image: Getty)
“It’s a lot better. This isn’t the dark days of the Taliban leadership, this guy is clever, he knows how to play the media. He has probably read from the playbook of Osama Bin Laden.
“It depends how much he thinks he can get there by diplomacy. He has to establish a regime and revenue and funding and he will see one of the things that really brought down the Assad regime, which was drugs.
“It’s a big can of worms, the whole thing.”
The toppling of the dictator, who is believed to have been responsible for the killings of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, has sent shockwaves across the and beyond.
The IDF has conducted several operations in Syria and on its border today (Image: Getty)
Today, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netenyahu announced the military has temporarily seized control of a demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights, saying the 1974 disengagement agreement with had “collapsed” with the rebel takeover of the country.
He said he had ordered the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) to enter the buffer zone to ensure that no hostile force was able to establish itself on its border.
to deny rebel forces access to weapons that could be turned on the country.