Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly left Syria after rebel forces completed a stunning advance on the capital
Syria’s rebel forces, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS), have entered the capital Damascus, capping a stunning advance across the country. In an extraordinary day for Syria, president Bashar al-Assad is reported to have fled, his whereabouts are unknown.
Here is everything we know so far:
Rebel forces say they have captured Damascus. They said the city is “free” of the “tyrant” president Bashar al-Assad and that the 50-year rule of the Assad family is over. “After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and (forced) displacement … we announce today, 12-8-2024, the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria,” they said in a statement. Video circulating online shows Syrian army forces removing their uniforms in the streets of the capital. The insurgents announced that they have begun freeing detainees from Sednaya prison, a notorious detention facility near Damascus. Shooting has been heard across the capital.
As dawn broke in Damascus there were scenes of celebration. Television footage showed rebels in fatigues firing celebratory rounds into the sky, and yelling “Allah Akbar” hours after Islamist rebels claimed control of the city, and amid reports President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country to an unknown location. On the streets people climbed on tanks to chant and gathered to celebrate.
Syria’s White Helmets civil defence forces has released a statement about the extraordinary events of the past few days. “The sun of freedom rises on the Syrians… the moment that has been long awaited for years… even decades… Syria, the homeland, is writing history today,” the group said in a video statement posted on X.
Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said in a video statement that the government is ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.“I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” Jalili said, as reported by the Associated Press. He said he would go to his office to continue work in the morning and called on Syrian citizens not to deface public property. He did not address reports that Assad had left the country.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Bashar al-Assad has left Syria. Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said “Assad left Syria via Damascus international airport before the army security forces left” the facility. Reuters quoted two senior Syrian officers saying the president had left Damascus. State television in Iran, Assad’s main backer in the years of war in Syria, reported that Assad had left the capital. It cited Qatar’s Al Jazeera news network for the information and did not elaborate. He has not been seen publicly for days.
Should Damascus fall to the opposition forces, the government would have control of only two of 14 provincial capitals: Latakia and Tartus.
Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani said early on Sunday that insurgent forces had “fully liberated” Syria’s central city of Homs. There were reports of celebrations in the city and of images of president Bashar al-Assad being removed. A statue of Hafez al-Assad, the father of Bashar al-Assad, has also been torn down by a large crowd in the city. Earlier, government forces withdrew from Homs.
The loss of Homs was a crippling blow for Assad. It stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus – the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.
US President Joe Biden is keeping a close eye on “extraordinary events” transpiring in Syria, the White House said. “President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners,” national security council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement on social media.
Donald Trump said the US should avoid engaging militarily in Syria, according to the Associated Press. The president-elect’s first extensive comments on the dramatic rebel push came on Saturday via his social media website. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT”, he wrote in a social media post.
The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called Saturday for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.”
