Syrian rebels seize Damascus, ending decades of brutal Assad dynasty rule

Syrian rebels seized the capital Damascus early on Sunday, as iron-fisted leader Bashar al-Assad reportedly fled the country to an unknown destination, ending more than five decades of brutal dynasty rule.

Opposition fighters entered Damascus around 5 am local time without resistance, quickly capturing the airport, the state TV building and many other strategic government facilities. 

Government forces and personnel reportedly withdrew from their positions, allowing the rebels a smooth takeover. 

Videos seen by Middle East Eye showed rebels freeing thousands of political prisoners from the notorious Sednaya prison and other jails in the capital, where women and children were also being detained.

The rebels said in a statement that "the city of Damascus is free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad" after various factions encircled the capital from the north and the south.

Assad's whereabouts were unclear as of 09:00 GMT, but he reportedly boarded a plane before rebels reached the capital and fled to an unknown location.

According to open-source data from the online tracker Flightradar24.com, a Syrian Air Ilyushin Il-76T aircraft took off from Damascus airport and was initially headed towards Syria's coastal region when the rebels stormed the capital.

However, the jet abruptly reversed course and flew in the opposite direction for several minutes before vanishing from radar near the city of Homs.

Later, several videos seen by MEE showed people inside the presidential palace, walking through rooms and smashing pictures of the Assad family.

A message later appeared on Syrian state TV reading: "The victory of the great Syrian revolution and the fall of the criminal Assad regime."

Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said in a video that he remained in his home and was ready to support continuity of governance.

Earlier, rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, more commonly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, instructed his fighters  not go near public institutions that he said would remain under the supervision of the "former prime minister" until it is officially handed over.

The lightning advance into Damascus came hours after rebels captured Homs city on Saturday night.  

On Friday, Syrian soldiers withdrew from areas of the southern provinces of Daraa and Sweida, with their positions replaced by opposition forces that have risen up since rebels in the north began their shock offensive last week.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group monitoring the war, said on Friday evening that local factions had captured more than 90 percent of Daraa.

In the neighbouring Sweida province, meanwhile, local fighters overtook several checkpoints, prompting senior officials, including the governor and police chief, to vacate their offices, according to local media.

Rebels now say they control Quneitra, a southern province on the border with Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, and Sanamayn, a town on the main highway from Damascus to Jordan.

Rebel forces have also taken control of various areas of Damascus' southern suburbs, including Daraya and Moamadhia. This marked the first time opposition forces had reached the outskirts of the Syrian capital since 2018, when government troops recaptured the area after years of siege.

The Syrian Observatory said government forces have withdrawn from several other areas in the Damascus countryside, including Jermana, Qatana, Artouz, al-Kiswah and sites near al-Mazzeh military airbase and al-Dumayr. 

In al-Mazzeh, a resident told Middle East Eye that buses were seen bringing people out of the military airbase.

From al-Midan, a Damascene neighbourhood, another source said: "All the guards are scattered and anxious and there so many police cars are presently stuck in heavy standstill traffic. Its so crowded they're running like ants."

In Jermana, nearly 10km from the capital's centre, protesters toppled a statue of Assad's late father Hafez in the main square while chanting anti-government slogans, the Observatory reported.

Assad remains in Damascus, Syria's state news agency said. 

The Syrian defence ministry denied that the army had fled positions near the capital, saying that government forces are present in all areas of the Damascus countryside.

In eastern Syria, however, around 2,000 Syrian troops are reported to have crossed the border into Iraq and sought refuge, Turki al-Mahlawi, the mayor of al-Qaim border town said.

The soldiers were reportedly marooned in the east and unable to safely join up with the Syrian government forces in Homs.

Advancing on Homs

Last week, rebel groups led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a shock offensive on Assad's forces in the north, capturing the major cities of Aleppo and Hama in a matter of days. Now they are staging an offensive on Homs, Syria's third-largest city.

On Saturday afternoon, Syrian rebels said they entered Homs from the north and east. A Syrian rebel commander, Hassan Abdul Ghany, said fighters had overrun an army camp and a string of villages around the city of Homs.

In the eastern countryside of Homs, rebels seized Palmyra, an oasis town also known as Tadmur.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday took control of eastern Deir Ezzor city and the key Abu Kamal border crossing with Iraq after Assad's troops withdrew to be repositioned around Homs, Damascus and the ruling family's coastal heartland.

The Syrian military has meanwhile concentrated its efforts on defending the key central city of Homs, with air strikes targeting rebel positions and reinforcements arriving to fortify positions around the city, according to state media.

The military also said it was redeploying and repositioning troops in Daraa, the cradle of the 2011 uprising against Assad's rule, and Sweida.

"Damascus awaits you," said HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in a statement addressed to rebel fighters on Telegram, using his real name instead of his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

Sharaa also called on rebels to leave captured cities to local police forces to maintain security and focus on new fronts.

Political dialogue

In Doha, Iran, Russia and the rebels' main foreign supporter, Turkey, discussed the crisis. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said they had agreed there should be an immediate end to the fighting.

"It's inadmissible to allow the terrorist group to take control of the lands in violation of agreements," Lavrov said after the meeting.

Russia, a long-term ally of Syria, intervened in 2015 to prop up Damascus during Syria's civil war, which began in 2011.

"We help the Syrian army to counter the attacks of terrorists," Lavrov added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after the meeting with Lavrov and Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that the parties agreed on the initiation of "political dialogue between the Syrian government and the legitimate opposition groups".

The United Nations special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, also called for "the start of a process that leads to the realisation of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people". Speaking in Gaziantep, a southern Turkish city that hosts thousands of Syrian refugees, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed the need to maintain Syria's territorial integrity.

"There is now a new reality in Syria, politically and diplomatically," Erdogan said.

US President-elect Donald Trump meanwhile said the US should not be involved in the conflict and should "let it play out".