Syrian President Assad's status remains unclear – report

Syrian President Bashar Assad's fate is currently unknown, US officials told CNN.

The officials cautioned that there has been no formal assessment of Assad's status and that his death has not been ruled out. 

“The emerging consensus is that is an increasingly plausible scenario,” one senior US official said to CNN. 

The Syrian government has denied reports that Assad is not in Damascus, Syrian state news agency SANA  reported. 

Axios reported on Saturday night that three Israeli defense officials said that Assad was still in Damascus. 

Conflicting reports

Bloomberg reported that Assad's whereabouts were unknown, but listed multiple possibilities of where he could be. 

Assad could be in Damascus, as Syrian officials have stated. He reportedly also could be in his hometown of Al-Qardaha, which is close to a Russian base, or in Tehran, a US policy source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. 

Officials told CNN that they believe the Assad regime will lose power over the weekend. 

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the current fighting in Syria is "a complicated situation. It’s one we’re monitoring closely, and we’re staying in close touch with regional partners about it."

CNN further reported that there was little evidence that Syria's allies, Russia and Iran, would step in to help Assad. 

Russian war bloggers have reported that Russian military staff have fled bases in the region. Tehran began evacuating its Quds Force personnel and diplomatic staff as early as Friday.