By Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Timour Azhari and Jaida Taha
AMMAN/BEIRUT/CAIRO (Reuters) -Syria’s military command has notified officers that President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year authoritarian rule has ended, a Syrian officer who was knowledgeable of the transfer instructed Reuters, following a fast insurgent offensive that took the world abruptly.
Syrian rebels stated Damascus was “now free of Assad”.
Earlier the chief who crushed all types of dissent flew out of Damascus for an unknown vacation spot on Sunday, two senior military officers instructed Reuters, as rebels stated they’d entered the capital with no signal of military deployments.
Hundreds in vehicles and on foot congregated at a major sq. in Damascus waving and chanting “Freedom” from the lengthy Assad household rule, witnesses stated.
“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,” stated the rebels.
Sednaya is a big army jail on the outskirts Damascus the place the Syrian authorities detained 1000’s.
A Syrian Air airplane took off from Damascus airport across the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels, in accordance with knowledge from the Flightradar web site.
The plane initially flew in direction of Syria’s coastal area, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect, however then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the other way for a couple of minutes earlier than disappearing off the map.
Reuters couldn’t instantly confirm who was on board.
The top of Syria’s major opposition group overseas Hadi al-Bahra Syrian on Sunday additionally declared that Damascus is now “without Bashar al-Assad”.
As Syrians expressed pleasure, Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali stated he is able to assist the continuity of governance and is ready to cooperate with any management chosen by the Syrian individuals.
The frontlines of Syria’s advanced civil battle had been dormant for years. Then Islamists as soon as affiliated with Al Qaeda instantly burst into motion, posing the largest problem to Assad, who had survived years of gruelling battle and worldwide isolation with the assistance of Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
However his allies had been targeted on and weakened by different crises, instantly leaving Assad on the mercy of his opponents.
Simply hours earlier than reaching Damascus, rebels introduced they’d gained full management of the important thing metropolis of Homs after solely a day of combating, leaving Assad’s 24-year rule dangling by a thread.
Hundreds of Homs residents poured onto the streets after the military withdrew from the central metropolis, 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 management has collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the army.
The autumn of Homs gave the insurgents management over Syria’s strategic heartland and a key freeway crossroads, severing Damascus from the coastal area that’s the stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect and the place his Russian allies have a naval base and air base.
Homs’ seize can also be a strong image of the insurgent motion’s dramatic comeback within the 13-year-old battle. Swathes of Homs had been destroyed by gruelling siege warfare between the rebels and the military years in the past. The combating floor down the insurgents, who had been compelled out.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the principle insurgent chief, known as the seize of Homs a historic second and urged fighters to not hurt “those who drop their arms”.
Rebels freed 1000’s of detainees from town jail. Safety forces left in haste after burning their paperwork.
Syrian insurgent commander Hassan Abdul Ghani stated in a press release early Sunday that operations had been ongoing to “completely liberate” the countryside round Damascus and insurgent forces had been trying towards the capital.
In a single suburb, a statue of Assad’s father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, was toppled and torn aside.
Exterior town, rebels swept throughout the complete southwest over 24 hours and established management.
EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO ASSAD RULE
The tempo of occasions has shocked Arab capitals and raised fears of a brand new wave of regional instability.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Russia issued a joint assertion saying the disaster was a harmful growth and calling for a political resolution.
Syria’s civil battle, which erupted in 2011 as an rebellion towards Assad’s rule, dragged in huge outdoors powers, created area for jihadist militants to plot assaults all over the world and despatched hundreds of thousands of refugees into neighbouring states.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest insurgent group, is the previous al Qaeda affiliate in Syria regarded by the U.S. and others as a terrorist organisation, and plenty of Syrians stay fearful it is going to impose draconian Islamist rule.
Golani has tried to reassure minorities that he is not going to intrude with them and the worldwide neighborhood that he opposes Islamist assaults overseas. In Aleppo, which the rebels captured per week in the past, there haven’t been reviews of reprisals.
When requested on Saturday whether or not he believed Golani, Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov replied, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating”.
ALLIES’ ROLE IN SUPPORTING ASSAD
Assad lengthy rule relied on allies to subdue the rebels. Russian warplanes carried out bombing whereas Iran despatched allied forces together with Hezbollah and Iraqi militia to bolster the Syrian army and storm rebel strongholds.
However Russia has been targeted on the battle in Ukraine since 2022 and Hezbollah has suffered huge losses in its personal gruelling battle with Israel, considerably limiting its potential or that of Iran to bolster Assad.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has stated the U.S. shouldn’t be concerned within the battle and will “let it play out”.