BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s army command has notified officers that President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year authoritarian rule has ended, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move told Reuters, following a rapid rebel offensive that took the world by surprise.
Syrian rebels said Damascus was “now free of Assad”.
Earlier the leader who crushed all forms of dissent flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters.
Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting “Freedom”, witnesses said.
“We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners and releasing their chains and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison,” said the rebels.
Sednaya is a large military prison on the outskirts Damascus where the Syrian government detained thousands.
Rebel fighters, Homs countryside, Syria, December 7, 2024
A Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus airport around the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels, according to data from the Flightradar website.
The aircraft initially flew towards Syria’s coastal region, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect, but then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.
The head of Syria’s main opposition group abroad Hadi al-Bahra Syrian on Sunday also declared that Damascus is now “without Bashar al-Assad”.
As Syrians expressed joy, Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said he is ready to support the continuity of governance and is prepared to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.
The frontlines of Syria’s complex civil war were dormant for years. Then Islamists once affiliated with Al Qaeda suddenly burst into action, posing the biggest challenge to Assad, who had survived years of gruelling war and international isolation with the help of Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
But his allies were focused on and weakened by other crises, suddenly leaving Assad at the mercy of his opponents.
Just hours before reaching Damascus, rebels announced they had gained full control of the key city of Homs after only a day of fighting, leaving Assad’s 24-year rule dangling by a thread.
Thousands of Homs residents poured onto the streets after the army withdrew from the central city, dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free” and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad”.
Rebels fired into the air in celebration, and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control has collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the military.
The fall of Homs gave the insurgents control over Syria’s strategic heartland and a key highway crossroads, severing Damascus from the coastal region that is the stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base.
Reuters could not immediately ascertain who was on board.
Intense sounds of shooting were heard in the centre of the Damascus, two residents said on Sunday, although it was not immediately clear what the source of the shooting was.
In rural areas southwest of the capital, local youths and former rebels took advantage of the loss of authority to come to the streets in acts of defiance against the Assad family’s authoritarian rule.
Thousands of Homs residents poured onto the streets after the army withdrew from the central city, dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free” and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad”.
Rebels fired into the air in celebration, and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control has collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the military.
