Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is believed to have fled the country his family has ruled for 50 years, as rebels say they have captured the capital in a lightning-fast march in just under two weeks. .
Two senior Syrian officials told Reuters that Mr. Assad had fled Damascus to an unknown destination, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Mr. Assad had flown from Damascus airport before military security forces departed. He said he left the country. The report could not be independently verified.
The Syrian leader has been publicly absent as Islamic militants spearheaded a full-scale offensive that began in a small enclave in northwestern Syria and appeared to have toppled Assad's regime within 11 days.
Rebels say they have freed prisoners from Damascus's notorious Sednaya prison, seen as a symbol of Assad's brutality, while a video from Damascus shows President Bashar al-Assad climbing on top of a hospital sign. A man was shown tearing off a poster with a face on it. People climbed on top of tanks in the capital's central square.
In Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city, captured by rebels just a week ago, roars and cheers echoed from the rooftops, mingled with the singing of celebratory songs broadcast from mosque speakers.
The Assad family ruled Syria since 1971, when Hafez al-Assad seized power in a military coup, until his son Bashar took over as president in 2000. Their control of Syria was enforced through a vast security state, and they suppressed opposition through extensive networks. Jail and government surveillance.
Bashar al-Assad crushed a popular uprising against him in 2011, when Syrians first took to the streets of major cities to demand his overthrow. What started as a peaceful demonstration later spilled over into a civil war. killed More than 300,000 people died during the 10 years of fighting.
President Assad was willing to direct the full force of state power against his own people to maintain control, including hitting civilians with airstrikes and the use of chemical weapons such as the deadly nerve agent sarin.
“Today marks the end of the 54-year rule of the Assad family in Syria. This is the only regime I have known all my life,” he said. said Zahel Tharoor, a Syrian-American doctor who organized the medical mission.
“Growing up, I don't cry much, but today I cried. It's been 14 long years of terror. This is our Berlin Wall moment,” he said.
Russian and Iranian intervention helped Assad survive some 14 years of unrest and civil war, leaving him in charge of a divided nation. His rule in Syria seemed inevitable until rebel forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group began seizing major cities along the main road to Damascus.
Rebel forces across southern Syria took control of entire towns south of Damascus as they closed in along the main road leading to the capital. As Syrian military officers retreated and fled, rebel groups closed in on the capital from three directions. Video from Damascus showed soldiers quickly changing into civilian clothes and dispersing on the streets of the capital.
Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali said in a video statement that the government was ready to “reach out” to opposition forces and offered to cooperate with the transitional government.
Without mentioning Assad's whereabouts, Jalili said: “I am at home and I am not going out. This is because I belong to this country.”
The rebels promised a “new Syria” in a statement, saying: “We will turn the page on our dark past and open new horizons for the future.”
Rights groups estimate at least 100,000 people have disappeared or been forcibly disappeared at the hands of the state since 2011, with armed rebels storming cities across the country and abandoning freed detention facilities.
This included the Sednaya military prison, a notorious facility where particularly brutal and humiliating torture took place. Videos circulating online showed dozens of people pouring onto the roads surrounding the facility and running off into the night.
Ranim Badenjiki, an exiled Syrian human rights defender from the Syria operation, said he cried tears of joy when he heard the news of President Bashar Assad's resignation. “It's too bad to be true,'' he said.
“We always thought that President Assad was a lucky man, supported by strong allies and world leaders rushing to shake his hand. But the Syrians themselves realized this dream. I’m glad I did,” she said.
“I think about those we have lost in recent years, those who have been killed in protests and social media posts, those who have been tortured for providing medicine or helping those in need. I think of those who died as a result of this. I think of my grandfather, who was tortured by Hafez al-Assad,” she said.
Badenjiki said her joy was tinged with sadness, as she was horrified to learn the fate of those who have gone missing or could be lost in Syria's labyrinthine camps.
“I want to be happy, but I also want to see my friend's father alive. He was forcibly disappeared by the regime 11 years ago. I want to see him still alive. I want to know that I am there and that I can be freed. I want to know the fate of my missing cousin.”
Moayad Horkan, a Syrian analyst living in exile, said the day's events were “unbelievable.”
“Just a few months ago, we were all operating under the assumption that this day would never come,” he said. “Every time I tell myself that the Assad regime has fallen, I still can't believe it.”
