ASSAD MỘT HUNG THẦN, MỘT GIA NÔ CỦA PUTIN CUỐI CÙNG CŨNG PHẢI BỊ HỦY DIỆT- VIỆT CỘNG CŨNG SẼ CÓ 1 NGÀY SẼ ĐẾN Y NHƯ ASSAD./-Mt68
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LIVE UPDATES: Insurgents declare end of Assad rule in Syria; war monitor says he left the country
Ahram Online , Sunday 8 Dec 2024
Insurgent factions declared that they have taken Damascus in a lightning offensive on Sunday, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria.
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Ahram Online provides you with the most recent developments in an escalating and fast-evolving armed conflict in Syria between the Syrian army and anti-government armed factions as they unfolded on Sunday 7 December.
07:45 US President Joe Biden is keeping a close eye on "extraordinary events" transpiring in Syria, the White House said late Saturday, after a war monitor said President Bashar al-Assad fled the country and rebels declared they have taken the capital.
"President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners," National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement on social media.
07:35 Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali said Sunday he was ready to "cooperate" with any leadership chosen by the people, after rebels said "tyrant" President Bashar al-Assad had fled the country.
The leader of the Islamist Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, ordered forces not to approach official institutions in Damascus, saying they would remain under the prime minister until they were "officially" handed over.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions have pressed a lightning offensive since November 27, sweeping swathes of the country from government control, including major cities Aleppo, Hama and Homs.
Provinces in the country's south and east have also fallen from government hands after local fighters seized control and Assad's forces withdrew.
The rebels said early Sunday that "the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled" and declared "the city of Damascus free".
"After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and (forced) displacement... we announce today the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria," the rebels said on Telegram.
In a speech broadcast on his Facebook account, premier Jalali said "this country can be a normal country that builds good relations with its neighbours and the world".
"But this issue is up to any leadership chosen by the Syrian people. We are ready to cooperate with it (that leadership) and offer all possible facilities," he added.
Jalali said he was "ready for any handover procedures".
Rebel leader Jolani said in a statement on Telegram: "To all military forces in the city of Damascus, it is strictly forbidden to approach public institutions, which will remain under the supervision of the former prime minister until they are officially handed over."
"It is forbidden to shoot into the air," added Jolani, who has started using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa instead of his nom de guerre.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, said "Assad left Syria via Damascus international airport before the army security forces left" the facility.
07:00 Residents in the Syrian capital were seen cheering in the streets of Damascus, as the armed factions heralded the departure of what they described as "tyrant" Assad and "declare the city of Damascus free", as reported by AFP.
The president's reported departure comes less than two weeks since the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group launched its campaign challenging more than five decades of rule by the Assad family.
"After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and (forced) displacement... we announce today the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria," the armed factions said on Telegram.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali said he was ready to cooperate with "any leadership chosen by the Syrian people".
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP "Assad left Syria via Damascus international airport before the army security forces left" the facility.
HTS said their fighters broke into a jail on the outskirts of the capital, announcing an "end of the era of tyranny in the prison of Sednaya" which has become a by-word for darkest abuses of the Syrian regime.
The leader of the largest insurgent group in Syria has prohibited his fighters from getting close to state institutions saying they will remain under the supervision of the country’s prime minister at the present time, as reported by AP.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the HTS, also banned his fighters from opening fire in the air in the capital Damascus.
“Public institutions will remain under the supervision of the prime minister until they are officially handed over,” he said in a statement published on his group’s social media outlets.
The rapid developments in Damascus come only hours after HTS said they had captured the strategic city of Homs, on the way to the capital.
The defence ministry earlier denied that insurgents had entered Homs, describing the situation there as "safe and stable".
Homs lies about 140 kilometres (85 miles) north of the capital and was the third major city seized by the armed factions who began their advance on November 27, reigniting a years-long war that had become largely dormant.
Monitoring events in Damascus, the Britain-based Observatory confirmed "the doors of the infamous 'Sednaya' prison... have been opened for thousands of detainees who were imprisoned by the security apparatus throughout the regime's rule".
Assad's government has earlier denied the army had withdrawn from areas around Damascus.
Reports the president had fled were followed by the premier saying he was ready to "cooperate" with a new leadership and any handover process.
"This country can be a normal country that builds good relations with its neighbours and the world... but this issue is up to any leadership chosen by the Syrian people," Jalali said in a speech broadcast on his Facebook account.
Assad has for years been backed by Lebanese Hezbollah, whose forces "vacated their positions around Damascus" according to a source close to the group.
Hezbollah "has instructed its fighters in recent hours to withdraw from the Homs area, with some heading to Latakia (in Syria) and others to the Hermel area in Lebanon", the source also told AFP.
The Observatory said on Saturday government forces had lost control of all southern Daraa province, the cradle of the 2011 uprising.
The army said it was "redeploying and repositioning" in Daraa and another southern province, Sweida.
White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners.
Eight key countries gathered with the U.N. special envoy on Syria on the sidelines of the Doha Summit for two hours of discussions Saturday night, and more will follow. The U.N. envoy seeks urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.”
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