Islamist-led Syrian rebels have announced they have captured the capital Damascus, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing, ending five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria.
Residents of the Syrian capital cheered the rebels on the streets of Damascus as armed factions heralded the departure of “tyrant” Assad and declared “Damascus free.”
The president’s escape comes less than two weeks after the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched its offensive.
“After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule and 13 years of crimes, tyranny and forced displacement... today we declare the end of this dark period and the beginning of a new era for Syria,” rebel factions wrote on Telegram.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali said he was ready to cooperate with "any leadership chosen by the Syrian people."
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP that "Assad left Syria through Damascus International Airport before the army security forces withdrew" from the facility.
The Hezbollah terrorist group, a key ally of Assad, also left its positions around Damascus.
HTS said its fighters had stormed a prison on the outskirts of the capital, declaring "the end of the era of tyranny in Sednaya prison," which has become a byword for the Syrian regime's worst abuses.
The rapid development in Damascus comes just hours after HTS said it had captured the strategic city of Homs, on the road to the capital.
The Defense Ministry had previously denied that rebels had entered Homs, describing the situation there as "safe and stable."
"This country can be a normal state that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world... but this issue depends on any leadership elected by the Syrian people," al-Jalali said in a speech broadcast on his Facebook page.
Hezbollah has in recent hours instructed its fighters to withdraw from the Homs area, with some heading to Latakia (in Syria) and others to the Hermel area in Lebanon, AFP reported.
The information provided by the government and the rebels could not be fully confirmed as journalists on the ground were unable to reach the areas the rebels said they had captured.
Residents of the capital described a state of panic. Traffic jams blocked the city center, with people searching for supplies and queuing to withdraw money from ATMs.
In a Damascus suburb, protesters tore down a statue of Assad’s father, the late leader Hafez al-Assad.
Footage from Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city, showed abandoned tanks and other armoured vehicles that had belonged to government forces.
HTS has roots in al-Qaeda. Banned as a terrorist organisation by Western governments, it has tried to soften its image in recent years and told minority groups not to worry.
At least 826 people, mostly fighters but also 111 civilians, have been killed since the offensive began. The UN says 370,000 people have been displaced.
UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen earlier called for “urgent political talks” to implement a 2015 Security Council resolution that sets out a roadmap for a negotiated settlement.
US President-elect Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the United States "should not intervene" after outgoing US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called for a "political solution to the conflict" in a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it was "unacceptable" to allow a "terrorist group to take control" of Syrian territory.
Moscow and Tehran supported Assad's government and army during the war.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government supports some armed groups in northern Syria, said Syria was "tired of war, blood and tears". | BGNES
