Syrian rebels said they had entered Damascus on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime appeared to collapse in the face of a stunning rebel offensive across the country.
The rebels said in a statement that “the city of Damascus has escaped the rule of tyrant Bashar al-Assad” and that “Assad has fled” after factions surrounded the capital from the north and south.
Assad’s whereabouts remain unknown and reports suggest he has fled, bringing a shameful end to a family dynasty that has ruled Syria for more than 50 years.
Residents said there were celebratory shootings in the air and thick smoke hung over the capital.
“I couldn’t believe it. Everyone was in the streets, everyone was shouting,” said Damascus resident Abdullah. “This is something historic. No one has suffered more than the Syrian people.
Rebel fighters were posted as guards outside banks and other public institutions, he added.
The fall of Assad’s regime will usher in a period of huge uncertainty for Syria and the wider region, a country shattered after 13 years of civil war. The country borders Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. Rebel groups have clashed in the past.
The White House said President Joe Biden is “closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant contact with regional partners.”
The rebel offensive is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist movement that was limited to Syria’s northwestern Idlib province before it began 12 days ago. The group, once an al-Qaeda affiliate, shocked the country by seizing Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, in 48 hours before marching south toward the capital.
It has been working with Turkish-backed rebels operating under the protection of the Syrian National Army, but Syria is home to numerous factions and the extent of coordination between them is unclear.
There have been no official statements from the Syrian presidential palace, the military or state media about Assad or the situation in the country. State-run television channel Al-Ekhbaria is showing pre-recorded footage of Syrian architecture set to light guitar music.
Assad, a London-trained ophthalmologist, has ruled Syria since succeeding his late father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000. Civil war broke out in 2011 when his troops brutally suppressed a popular uprising.
He has managed to retain power with the support of Iran, Iranian-backed militants and Russia, which provides significant air power. In recent years, his regime has regained control of much of the country.
But he presides over a hollowed-out, bankrupt state that even many in his own Alawite community appear to have abandoned after years of conflict and economic hardship.
When HTS launched its offensive on November 27, regime forces appeared to be unraveling, while Russia, Iran, and the Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah were weakened and distracted by their respective conflicts.
Rebels said they had taken full control of the strategic city of Homs, the last major city on the highway south of Damascus, early Sunday.
Southern rebels independent of HTS over the weekend captured Daraa, the birthplace of Syria’s 2011 uprising, as well as the cities of Suweida and Quneitra, surrounding Damascus from the south.
The rebel success is a humiliating blow for both Iran and Russia, with Iran reportedly pulling personnel out of Syria. After intervening in the war in 2015, Moscow gained access to air and naval bases in the Mediterranean.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday that Moscow would stand with its allies and “do everything possible not to allow terrorists to succeed, even if they claim they are no longer terrorists”.
At the same time, Tehran’s support for Assad provides it with a “land bridge” across Iraq to Syria and Lebanon, home to Tehran’s most important proxy, Hezbollah.
HTS is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Nations, Turkey and other countries, and its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has a $10 million bounty on his head.
In recent years, Jolani has sought to reshape the group into a more moderate Islamist movement, creating an authoritarian, centralized movement with tight control over Idlib, a city of three to four million people.
Rebels say they have released prisoners from the notorious Sadnaya prison, which has become a symbol of the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on political opponents.
On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a long-time supporter of some Syrian opposition forces, praised “the emergence of a new diplomatic and political reality in Syria.”
