President Bashar al-Assad fled Syria as Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus Sunday, triggering celebrations throughout the nation and past on the finish of his oppressive rule.
Russian information companies stated late Sunday that Assad and his household have been in Moscow.
Crowds toured the ousted chief’s luxurious house after the rebels declared he had fled, a spectacular finish to 5 many years of brutal Baath occasion rule.
The federal government fell 11 days after the rebels started a shock advance, greater than 13 years after Assad’s crackdown on anti-government protests ignited Syria’s civil warfare — which had turn out to be largely dormant till the insurgent push.
“This victory, my brothers, is historic for the area,” Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, chief of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) that spearheaded the advance, stated in an tackle on the landmark Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
US President Joe Biden stated Assad must be “held accountable” however referred to as the nation’s political upheaval a “historic alternative” for Syrians to rebuild their nation.
“The autumn of the regime is a elementary act of justice,” Biden stated from the White Home.
– ‘Syria is ours’ –
Residents cheered within the streets because the insurgent factions heralded the departure of “tyrant” Assad, saying: “We declare the town of Damascus free.”
Celebratory gunfire sounded together with shouts of, “Syria is ours and never the Assad household’s”.
AFP correspondents noticed dozens of males, girls and youngsters wandering by way of Assad’s fashionable, spacious house whose rooms had been stripped naked.
“I am unable to consider I am residing this second,” tearful Damascus resident Amer Batha instructed AFP by cellphone.
“We have been ready a very long time for at the present time,” he stated.
The insurgent factions on Telegram proclaimed the top to “50 years of oppression underneath Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and displacement”.
It’s, they stated, “the beginning of a brand new period for Syria.”
The international ministry of Assad’s key backer Russia had introduced earlier Sunday that Assad had resigned from the presidency and left Syria.
The top of warfare monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, instructed AFP: “Assad left Syria through Damascus worldwide airport earlier than the military safety forces left” the power.
Later Sunday, a Kremlin supply instructed Russian information companies that Assad and his household had arrived in Moscow the place they’d been granted asylum “on humanitarian grounds”.
– ‘Historic alternative’ –
Across the nation, folks toppled statues of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s father and the founding father of the repressive system of presidency he inherited.
For the previous 50 years in Syria, even the slightest suspicion of dissent might imply jail or demise.
Throughout their advance, the rebels stated they’d freed prisoners, together with on Sunday on the Sednaya facility, infamous for the darkest abuses of Assad’s period.
UN warfare crimes investigators urged these taking cost within the nation to make sure the “atrocities” dedicated underneath Assad’s rule will not be repeated.
Amnesty Worldwide referred to as this a “historic alternative” for these chargeable for the abuses in Syria to face justice.
The top of Assad’s rule got here simply hours after HTS stated it had captured the strategic metropolis of Homs.
Homs was the third main metropolis seized by the rebels, who started their advance on November 27, the identical day a ceasefire occurred in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah motion.
Hezbollah had supported Assad throughout the lengthy civil warfare however has been severely weakened by Israeli strikes.
Hezbollah forces “vacated their positions round Damascus”, a supply near the group stated Sunday.
HTS is rooted within the Syrian department of Al-Qaeda however has sought to melt its picture lately. It stays listed as a terrorist organisation by Western governments.
On Sunday afternoon the rebels introduced a curfew within the capital till 5:00 am (0200 GMT) Monday.
The commander of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which controls a lot of northeast Syria, hailed the autumn of Assad’s “authoritarian regime” as “historic”.
A army council affiliated with the SDF clashed Sunday with Turkish-backed Syrian fighters in Syria’s north, leaving 26 fighters from each side lifeless, the Observatory stated, because the Turkish-backed group launched an offensive on the Manbij space.
– ‘We’re going house’ –
The Observatory stated Israel had struck authorities safety buildings and weapons depots Sunday on the outskirts of Damascus, in addition to within the jap Deir Ezzor province.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated the overthrow of Assad was a “historic day within the… Center East” and the autumn of a “central hyperlink in Iran’s axis of evil”.
“This can be a direct results of the blows now we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, Assad’s foremost supporters,” he added.
The UN envoy for Syria stated the nation was at “a watershed second”.
Russia requested an emergency UN Safety Council assembly in New York, which is about for 3:00 pm (2000 GMT) Monday, a number of diplomatic sources instructed AFP.
Turkey, which has traditionally backed the opposition, referred to as for a “easy transition”.
Iran stated it anticipated “pleasant” ties with Syria to proceed, at the same time as its embassy in Damascus was vandalised.
For the reason that begin of the insurgent offensive, at the very least 910 folks have been killed, principally combatants but in addition together with 138 civilians, the Observatory stated.
Syria’s warfare has killed greater than 500,000 folks, and compelled half of the inhabitants to flee their properties.
Thousands and thousands fled overseas.
“I can barely keep in mind Syria,” stated Reda al-Khedr, who was solely 5 years previous when he and his mom escaped Syria’s Homs in 2014.
“However now we’ll go house to a liberated Syria,” he instructed AFP in Cairo.
Liberated, however dealing with monumental challenges.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen stated Sunday the bloc would assist rebuild a Syria that safeguards minorities after Assad’s fall.
