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Reuters

Agence France-Presse

Syrian rebels said on Sunday that they have ended Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule, in their first announcement on state television following a lightning offensive that took the world by surprise.
Syria’s army command notified officers on Sunday that Assad’s regime had ended, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move told international media.
But the Syrian army later said it was continuing operations against “terrorist groups” in the towns of Hama and Homs and Deraa countryside.
Syrian rebels said earlier that Damascus was “now free of Assad”.
The head of Syria’s main opposition group abroad, Hadi al-Bahra Syrian, also declared that Damascus is now “without Bashar al-Assad”.
As Syrians expressed joy, the country’s Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said he was ready to support the continuity of governance and is prepared to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.
Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting “Freedom”, witnesses said.
“We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners and releasing their chains and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison,” said the rebels.
Sednaya is a large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus where the Syrian government detained thousands.

Just hours earlier, rebels announced they had gained full control of the key city of Homs after only a day of fighting, leaving Assad’s 24-year rule dangling by a thread.
Intense sounds of shooting were heard in the centre of Damascus, residents said on Sunday, although it was not immediately clear what the source of the shooting was.
Thousands of Homs residents poured onto 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 fired into the air in celebration, and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control has collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the military.
The fall of Homs gives the insurgents control over Syria’s strategic heartland and a key highway crossroads, severing Damascus from the coastal region that is the stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and airbase.
Homs’ capture is also a powerful symbol of the rebel movement’s dramatic comeback in the 13-year-old conflict. Swathes of Homs were destroyed by gruelling siege warfare between the rebels and the army years ago. The fighting ground down the insurgents, who were forced out.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the main rebel leader, called the capture of Homs a historic moment and urged fighters not to harm “those who drop their arms”.
Rebels freed thousands of detainees from the city prison. Security forces left in haste after burning their documents.
Residents of numerous Damascus districts turned out to protest against Assad on Saturday evening, and security forces were either unwilling or unable to clamp down.

Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghani said in a statement early Sunday that operations were ongoing to “completely liberate” the countryside around Damascus and rebel forces were looking toward the capital.
In one suburb, a statue of Assad’s father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, was toppled and torn apart.
The Syrian army said it was reinforcing around Damascus, and state television reported on Saturday that Assad remained in the city.
Outside the city, rebels swept across the entire southwest over 24 hours and established control.
The fall of Homs posed an immediate existential danger to the Assad dynasty’s five-decade reign over Syria and the continued influence there of its main regional backer, Iran.
Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against Assad’s rule, dragged in big outside powers, created space for jihadist militants to plot attacks around the world and sent millions of refugees into neighbouring states.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest rebel group, is a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria regarded by the US and others as a terrorist organisation, and many Syrians remain fearful it will impose draconian Islamist rule.
Golani has tried to reassure minorities that he will not interfere with them, and the international community that he opposes Islamist attacks abroad. In Aleppo, which the rebels captured a week ago, there have not been reports of reprisals.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group withdrew from the Syrian city of Qusayr on the border with Lebanon before rebel forces seized it, Syrian army sources said on Sunday.
At least 150 armoured vehicles carrying hundreds of Hezbollah fighters left the city, and Israel hit one of the convoys as it was departing, sources said.
Assad long relied on Russian airstrikes and Iran-backed militias from Iraq to reinforce the Syrian military.
But Russia has been focused on the war in Ukraine since 2022 and Hezbollah has suffered big losses in its own gruelling war with Israel.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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Middle East

Syrian rebels say they have toppled Assad in state TV announcement

A giant banner of Syrian President Bashar Assad hangs on the facade of a building in Damascus. File photo: AP

A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken, in a Syrian regime’s Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama. Reports suggest he has fled the country. File photo: AFP

An anti-government fighter holds a weapon as he keeps position near a defaced portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the city of Hama after forces captured the central Syrian city. Photo: AFP

Syria rebels say they control Homs, are advancing on capital Damascus

A rebel fighter sits on the back of a vehicle in the Homs countryside on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

A rebel fighter gives the victory sign while standing on a military aircraft that belonged to forces loyal to the Assad government at Hama’s military airport on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

A truck pulls the head of the toppled statue of late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad through the streets of Hama on Friday. Photo: AFP

Armed men pose for pictures near a burning military vehicle belonging to the Syrian regime forces in the Hama area on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Syrian rebels claim they have entered Damascus

Armed men pose for pictures near a military vehicle belonging to the Syrian regime forces and seized by anti government forces, with rebels claiming they are on the verge of taking the capital Damascus. Photo: AFP

Why rebel capture of Syria’s Hama, a city with a brutal history, matters

A billboard bearing a picture of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and a national flag that were torn by anti-government fighters in the northern city of Aleppo. Photo: AFP

A Syrian anti-government fighter shoots at a large banner bearing a picture of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, in Hama. Photo: AFP

Residents take to the streets of Hama to welcome anti-government fighters. Photo: AFP

Syrian anti-government fighters cheer as they ride a military vehicle through the streets of Hama. Photo: AFP

A multi-barrel rocket launcher fires against regime forces in the northern outskirts of Hama on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

News

World

President Bashar al-Asad has fled Syria after rebels seized control of the capital Damascus


President Bashar al-Asad has fled Syria after rebels seized control of the capital Damascus.


War and conflict

Syrian conflict

Syrian rebels say they have toppled Assad in state TV announcement

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}President Bashar al-Asad has fled Syria after rebels seized control of the capital Damascus

President Bashar al-Asad has fled Syria after rebels seized control of the capital Damascus