Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad has reportedly fled the country, with opposition fighters claiming control of Damascus following a rapid two-week offensive. Senior Syrian military officials have confirmed Assad’s departure, though independent confirmation is still awaited.
The United Arab Emirates, where rumors suggest Assad may have sought refuge, declined to comment on the matter.
Rebels celebrated the collapse of Assad’s 24-year rule on Syrian state television, calling for national unity and the restoration of Syria’s sovereignty.
Celebrations broke out across Damascus as residents tore down posters of Assad and his late father, Hafez al-Assad, while also removing statues that symbolized the regime.
Prisoners, including those from the infamous Sednaya prison, were freed as the opposition forces took control.
Videos emerging from the capital showed Syrians joyfully destroying portraits of the Assad family and trampling on statues that had long been symbols of the regime.
Assad, who succeeded his father in 2000 after his father’s nearly 30-year reign, had ruled with an iron fist.
His brutal crackdown on the 2011 uprising led to a civil war that has claimed over 300,000 lives over the past decade.
The rebel offensive, primarily led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, successfully breached Assad’s defenses, with video footage showing government soldiers abandoning their posts as the opposition closed in on the capital from multiple directions.
While many Syrians hailed the fall of the regime as a historic moment akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall, a sense of mourning persisted for the thousands of people who disappeared under Assad’s rule.
Human rights activists are calling for justice and accountability for the disappeared, as the country enters a new chapter in its tumultuous history.
