The Syrian government appeared to have fallen early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a lightning rebel offensive.
An image of Syrian President Bashar Assad, riddled with bullets, is seen on the facade of the provincial government office in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of Hama, Syria, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.
State television in Iran, Assad's main backer in the years of war in Syria, reported that Assad had left the capital. It cited Qatar's Al Jazeera news network for the information and did not elaborate.An Associated Press journalist in Damascus reported seeing groups of armed residents along the road in the outskirts of the capital and hearing sounds of gunshots. The city's main police headquarters appeared to be abandoned, its door left ajar with no officers outside.
The insurgents also announced they had entered the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital and"liberated" their prisoners there. The fall of Damascus would leave government forces in control of only two of 14 provincial capitals: Latakia and Tartus. In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria's border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Lebanese border officials closed the main Masnaa border crossing late Saturday, leaving many stuck waiting.
Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation of a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015 and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections.
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