Bashar al-Assad, who has ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, has left the country after ordering a peaceful handover of power, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, British newspaper The Guardian reports, stating that his whereabouts are unclear.
The media adds that the ministry said that Moscow did not participate in the talks regarding his departure, but that it was discovered that Russian military bases in Syria were put on high alert, although there is currently no serious threat to them.
The announcement states that Moscow is in contact with all Syrian opposition groups and appeals to all parties to refrain from violence, Reuters reported.
Russia, along with Iran, has been a key ally of Assad, providing him with military aid to stay in power despite widespread unpopularity.
Syrian rebels announced today that they have ended the 24-year authoritarian rule of President Bashar al-Assad, in their first statement on state television after a lightning offensive that surprised the world, Reuters reports.
They announced a curfew in Damascus from 16 p.m. local time to XNUMX a.m., Reuters reported.
The Syrian army command informed the officers today that the Assad regime has ended, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move told Reuters.
But the Syrian army later said it was continuing operations against "terrorist groups" in the cities of Hama and Homs and Deraa.
Reuters reports that two senior military officers told the agency that Assad had flown to an unknown location, and that the rebels said they had entered the capital, where no troops were deployed.
Radio Free Europe reports that Assad's whereabouts are unknown, and that the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Assad flew out of Damascus and left early on December 8. It did not say where Asad flew to.
That report could not be confirmed, but Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said in a video that the government is "ready to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the people."
"With the Syrian people, we celebrate the news of the release of our prisoners and the removal of their chains and announce the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison," the rebels said, referring to the large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus where the Syrian government has detained thousands of people.
"We believe that Syria is for all Syrians and that it is the land of all its sons and that this country can be a normal country that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world without joining any regional alliances and blocs," Jalali said, adding that still at home in Damascus and that he had not fled.
Thousands of people gathered in Damascus' main square waving and chanting "Freedom" after half a century of rule by the Assad family, witnesses said.
Reuters said the dramatic collapse marks a seismic moment for the Middle East, ending family rule over Syria and dealing a huge blow to Russia and Iran, which have lost a key ally in the heart of the region.
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The pace of events stunned Arab capitals and fueled fears of a new wave of regional instability.
The Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus airport around the time it was announced that rebels had taken the capital, according to data from the Flightradar website.
The plane initially flew towards Syria's coastal region, a stronghold of Assad's Alawite sect, but then made a sharp U-turn and flew in the opposite direction for several minutes before disappearing from the map.
Reuters could not immediately determine who was on the plane.
Two Syrian sources said there is a high probability that Assad may have died in a plane crash, as it is a mystery why the plane took a surprising turn and disappeared from the map according to data from the Flightradar website.
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"It disappeared from the radar, it's possible that the transponder was turned off, but I believe it's more likely that the plane was shot down..." a Syrian source said without elaborating, according to Reuters.
The head of Syria's main opposition group abroad, Hadi al-Bahra Syrian, said Damascus was now "without Bashar al-Assad."
The end of the 50-year rule of the Assad family
Beta Agency reports that the Syrian government fell early this morning, marking the end of 50 years of rule by the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive across the territory it held and entering the capital Damascus in ten days.
Syrian state television broadcast a video statement from a group of people who said President Assad had been ousted and all prisoners had been released from prison.
A man reading the statement said it was the "Operations Room for the Conquest of Damascus", an opposition group that called on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve the state institutions of the "free Syrian state".
State television in Iran, a country that supported Assad throughout Syria's years of war, reported that he had left the capital, citing Qatari news network Al Jazeera. The announcements of the Syrian government about this have not yet been published.
When the morning dawned in Damascus, people gathered in the city's mosques to pray and celebrate in the squares, shouting "God is great".
They also chanted anti-Assad slogans and blew horns, and celebratory gunfire was heard in some areas. Soldiers and police officers left their positions and fled, and the thieves entered the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense.
Twenty-nine-year-old lawyer Omar Daer said that his feelings are indescribable after the fear, panic and terror that lived under Assad and his father for many years.
The police headquarters in the capital looked deserted, the door was left open, there were no policemen outside.
An AP journalist filmed an abandoned military checkpoint, where uniforms were thrown on the ground under a poster of Assad.
This is the first time opposition forces have reached Damascus since 2018, when Syrian soldiers captured areas on the outskirts of the capital after a year-long siege.
The pro-government Syrian Sham FM radio reported that the Damascus airport had been evacuated and that flights had been suspended. The rebels also announced that they had entered a notorious military prison in the north of the capital and that prisoners had been freed.
The Prime Minister is asking for elections
As Syrians expressed joy, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali said he was ready to support continuity of governance and ready to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.
Reuters reports that Jalali said Syria should hold free elections to allow the people to decide their leadership.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Jalali also said he had been in contact with rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani to discuss the management of the current transition period, marking a significant development in efforts to shape Syria's political future.
US President Joseph Biden and his team have been monitoring "extraordinary events in Syria" and have been in contact with regional partners, the White House said.
The front lines of Syria's complex civil war have been stagnant for years. Then Islamists once linked to al-Qaeda suddenly sprung into action, posing the biggest challenge to Assad, who has survived years of grueling war and international isolation with the help of Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.
But Assad's allies were focused and weakened by other crises, leaving Assad at the mercy of his opponents with an army unprepared to defend him.
Syrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Shara said on Sunday that access to public institutions, which he said would remain under the supervision of the "former prime minister" until they were officially handed over, was prohibited.
Israel, which has severely weakened the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Hamas movement in Gaza, is likely to celebrate the fall of Assad, another of Iran's key regional allies. But the prospect of an Islamist group ruling Syria is likely to raise concerns.
Just hours before reaching Damascus, rebels announced they had taken full control of the key city of Homs after just one day of fighting, leaving Assad's 24-year rule hanging in the balance.
Thousands of Homs residents took to 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 shot in the air in celebration, and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president.
The fall of Homs gave the rebels control of Syria's strategic heartland and a key highway junction, cutting off Damascus from a coastal region that is a stronghold of Assad's Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have naval and air bases.
Homs' takeover is also a powerful symbol of the rebel movement's dramatic comeback in a 13-year conflict. Parts of Homs were destroyed by a grueling siege war between rebels and the army years ago.
The rebels freed thousands of detainees from the city prison. The security forces left in a hurry after burning the documents.
The Syrian Minister of Telecommunications told Al Arabiya television today that telecommunication services are functioning normally throughout the country, and that Internet access has been restored in Hama, Reuters reported.
He added that he also spoke with Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a senior commander of Syrian rebel forces, shortly after the Syrian prime minister said he had.
Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against Assad's rule, has drawn in major outside powers, created space for jihadist militants to plot attacks around the world and sent millions of refugees into neighboring countries.
The Syrian opposition coalition announced that it will end the process of establishing a transitional government
The Syrian rebel coalition announced today that it is continuing the process of establishing a transitional governing body that will have full executive powers.
"The great Syrian revolution has moved from the phase of the struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build the country together for the benefit of the victims of its people," the statement said, according to agencies.
Assad, who ruled Syria for almost 25 years, reportedly left the country and went to an unknown location.
This came less than two weeks after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist extremist organization leading an insurgency against government forces, launched a surprise and successful offensive in Syria.
The rapid development of events in Damascus was preceded by the conquest of the strategically important city of Homs, about 140 kilometers away from the capital.
Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: A new page of history written today
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that today "a new page was written in the history of Syria", after almost 14 years of civil war.
"Syrian brothers: today a new page of the history of Syria is being written, to inaugurate a national pledge and a charter that unites the word Syrians, unites them and does not divide them, in order to build one home where justice and equality prevail and where everyone enjoys equal rights and duties ", the ministry announced.
Bashar al-Assad faced a popular uprising against his regime in 2011, when Syrians first took to the streets of capital cities to demand his removal.
The demonstrations were initially peaceful, but later turned into a civil war in which more than 300.000 people died in ten years of fighting.
Assad has turned full force against his own people to maintain control, the agencies say, citing airstrikes on civilians and the use of chemical weapons, including the deadly nerve agent sarin.
Syrian Television: This is a historic day in modern history; Salkhadi: We will not do what the Asad family did
The head of the Syrian state television said this morning that this is a historic day in the modern history of Syria.
The TV stopped broadcasting the program for a short while, and the host called all employees to return to work, adding that they were safe.
"This is Damascus, the capital of Syria, where the gates of freedom have been opened for the first time in many years," the presenter said.
He later spoke with Anas Salkhadi, the commander of the rebels who took over the capital. Salkhadi said the rebels would protect state institutions.
"Our message to all sects in Syria is that we tell them that Syria is for everyone. We will not do what the Assad family did," he added.
As the rebel commander spoke the sound died out and the broadcast suddenly stopped.
Then a red banner appeared on the screen with the message in Arabic: "Victory of the great Syrian revolution and the fall of Assad's criminal regime."
Fidan: Assad's regime fell, it didn't happen overnight
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Hakan Fidan, confirmed today the reports about the collapse of the Government of Syria.
"The Assad regime has fallen and the control of the country is passing into other hands," Fidan said at the Doha Forum in Qatar.
"It didn't happen overnight. In the last 13 years, the country has been in chaos," he added, referring to the civil war followed by Assad's crackdown on democratic protests in 2011.
Ankara has supported Syrian opposition forces for years in order to overthrow Assad, who has the support of Iran and Russia.
Turkey's main concern is the presence of the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria, which it considers a terrorist organization closely linked to extremists in that country. They have been leading a rebellion against the Turkish state for four decades, writes the British Guardian.
Fidan also said today that Assad was probably out of Syria after Islamist-led rebels declared he had fled the country.
Two senior military officials told Reuters that Assad traveled by plane from Damascus to an unknown location.
Syrian refugees in Lebanon are waiting at the border to return home
Syrian refugees gathered today on the Lebanese side of the Masna border crossing, waiting to return home after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Lebanon closed that crossing last night, but reopened it this morning, allowing Syrians to leave Lebanon freely, while their entry from Syria to the Lebanese side is restricted.
Lebanese officials have long complained about the large number of refugees in Lebanon.
On the last day of September, there were 768.353 registered refugees in Lebanon according to the data of the UN Refugee Agency, and it is believed that hundreds of thousands more were unregistered.
Many fled Lebanon after the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese extremist organization Hezbollah, which escalated into open war at the end of September, but they have been returning from Syria to Lebanon in recent days as the rebels advanced towards Damascus.
After Syrian officials left the Syrian side of the border, an Associated Press photographer who entered Lebanon from Syria said some people took the opportunity to loot duty-free stores between the two borders.
The Israeli army claims it will not intervene
The Israeli army announced today that it will not intervene in the event in Syria, according to news agencies.
The country, however, announced that it had deployed forces in a buffer zone overseen by the United Nations (UN) and in several places necessary for defense in light of events in the neighboring Arab country.
As stated, the deployment of forces aims to provide security for the residents of the part of the Golan Heights under Israeli control.
Israel won the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War in 1967 and later annexed it, which most of the international community does not recognize and considers the territory occupied.
Based on the subsequent cease-fire agreement, a demilitarized buffer zone was created between the territories of the two countries and it prohibits military presence or activity by either side in the area.
The UN envoy for Syria expressed the hope that this is a turning point for that country
The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, announced today that the country is at a turning point as Islamist-led rebels declared they had captured Damascus, President Bashar al-Assad had fled and half a century of Baath Party rule had ended. .
Pedersen described the nearly 14-year-long civil war in Syria as "a dark chapter that left deep scars."
"Today we look forward with cautious hope to open a new chapter of peace, reconciliation and dignity with the participation of all Syrians," the UN envoy said.
Official: US presence in eastern Syria continues
The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense of the United States of America (USA) for the Middle East, Dan Shapiro, said today that the American presence in eastern Syria will continue.
He explained that the US is present "solely to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS and has nothing to do with other aspects of that conflict," using the acronym ISIS for the Islamic State.
"We call on all parties in Syria to protect civilians, especially those from Syrian minority communities, and to respect international military norms and work towards a resolution that includes a political solution," Shapiro said.
He assessed that several participants in the conflict in Syria have complex biographies and the country has such a history, including the crimes of President Bashar al-Assad, Russian random bombing, the involvement of pro-Iranian militias and the crimes of ISIS.
Shapiro, however, did not directly say that the rebels had ousted Assad.
"If this is confirmed, no one will shed a tear for the Assad regime," he concluded.
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