Syria’s rebel alliance is edging closer to the capital Damascus, after anti-regime forces swept across the country in a lightning offensive. Follow the latest live news updates here.
• The long rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is over, after rebels swept into the capital Damascus. The fighters declared the city “liberated” inthat the government stands ready “to cooperate with any leadership the people choose.” He was seen in a video being escorted by rebels. The rebels - who are led by Islamists - have saidacross the Middle East.
“Armed groups occupied the building of state radio and TV, located in the center of Damascus,” the Russian report said, showing opposition forces apparently entering the government media compound. After about a minute, coverage moved on to other news, mostly about the war in Ukraine. A message on Syrian state television earlier called on people not to “terrify” civilians by firing weapons in public squares.Syria’s foreign ministry and its embassies abroad will remain operational to serve Syrians, the foreign ministry said in its first statement since the rebel takeover of Damascus.
Another video posted on social media showed the hallways of what appeared to be another residence in the capital, with the sound of men and women celebrating. “This is the people’s money,” one man was heard saying. CNN was not able to geolocate the video. Assad “decided to leave the presidential post and left the country, giving instructions to transfer power peacefully,” the statement said, adding that “Russia did not participate in these negotiations.”Before the Russian foreign ministry issued its statement, a source close to the rebels told CNN that the ousted president had left Damascus under Russian protection, and a separate source said he traveled to Latakia in northwest Syria, where Russia has an airbase.
“We address all the sects of Syria: Syria is for everyone, without exception… Syria is for the Sunni, the Druze, the Alawite. We don’t deal with people like the Assad did,” the commander said when asked by the interviewer to reassure minorities concerned for their safety after the fall of the Assad regime.Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty ImagesThousands gathered in cars and on foot in the main square of Damascus to celebrate.
Asked by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at a news conference in Doha, Qatar, if he knew where Assad might be, Hakan Fidan said: “I cannot comment on that, probably outside of Syria.” “This is a regime that, for over 50 years, under the mantra of freedom, unity and socialism, oppressed, tortured and disappeared many millions in Syria,” Maksad said. The regime also oppressed Lebanese and Palestinian people when the Assad regime occupied Lebanon for several years, he said.
Other scenes revealed weary former prisoners, many jubilant after being released, with some receiving medical treatment. “We ask all families, revolutionaries, and journalists to photograph the released detainees so that their families can recognize them,” one commentor wrote.In 2017, an Amnesty International report claimed as many as 13,000 people had been hanged from 2011 to 2015 at Saydnaya Prison in a secret crackdown on dissent against the Assad regime.“Assad is gone. He has fled his country.
“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin,” he wrote without specifying which conflict he was referring to.Russia has been waging war in Ukraine for over two years, leaving it with less military might to cover Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria.rebel takeover
This screengrab from a social media video shows Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jalali being escorted by rebels in Damascus, Syria, on December 8.A video showed Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jalali being escorted by rebels in Damascus on Sunday, purportedly to a hotel to hand over government authority.
An active search is underway for Assad, according to a source familiar with the rebels’ operations. The Syrian leader has not been seen or heard from publicly since rebels entered the capital early on Sunday morning. “Following the recent events in Syria, including the entry of armed personnel into the buffer zone, the IDF has deployed forces in the buffer zone and in several other places necessary for its defense, to ensure the safety of the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel,” the Israel Defense Forces said.
“Damascus has been liberated and the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown, and oppressed prisoners in regime prisons have been released,” a spokesperson said reading from a statement surrounded by roughly a dozen other rebels. “We are ready to cooperate with any leadership the people choose, offering all possible support to ensure a smooth and systematic transition of government functions, preserving state facilities,” he said.
The militant leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham , the main group driving the country’s armed opposition, released a statement calling on rebel forces to leave state institutions unharmed. “We broke the news to the Syrian people of liberating our prisoners and unchaining them, and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Saydnaya Prison,” the statement said.in July 2023 highlighted the “continuing widespread and systematic patterns of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including enforced disappearances” inside Syrian detention facilities including Saydnaya.
Footage verified by CNN showed dozens of people quickly passing through security checkpoints and rushing to departure gates in an attempt to flee the country.Rebel forces appear to have entered the Syrian capital of Damascus, one resident told CNN, as the Assad regime’s defenses showed signs of collapsing.
Through the day, anti-regime forces have been moving from the north, south and east toward Damascus, reaching suburbs less than 5 miles — and in one case, barely 1 mile — from the center of the Syrian capital.Smoke rises as a member of the rebels, led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen in Aleppo, Syria, on November 29.
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