Key events
Syrian rebels say Bashar al-Assad has fled Damascus and claim to have captured capital
Welcome back to our live coverage of the rebel offensive that seems to have been successful in toppling the Syrian government, led by longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Here are the latest developments:
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Rebel forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, in Damascus have declared the Syrian capital “free” of Assad as government forces withdraw their presence.
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In the capital’s central square, people climbed on top of tanks and cheered as they trampled on a toppled statue of Assad’s father, Hafez.
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The Syrian rebel coalition said it is continuing work to complete the transfer of power in Syria to a transitional governing body with full executive powers.
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Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government is ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government. “I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” Jalili said.
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Syria’s army command notified officers on Sunday that Assad’s regime had ended, Reuters is reporting. But the Syrian army later said it was continuing operations against “terrorist groups” in the key cities of Hama and Homs and in Deraa countryside.
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Assad, who has ruled the country for nearly 25 years, has reportedly left Damascus by plane for an unknown destination.
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US president-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Assad had “fled his country” after losing the backing of Russia. “Assad is gone,” he said on his Truth Social platform. “His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.”
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Outgoing US President Joe Biden and his team were monitoring the “extraordinary events in Syria” and were in touch with regional partners, the White House said.
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As armed rebels swept cities across the country, they flung open detention facilities where rights groups estimated that at least 100,000 people were considered missing or forcibly disappeared since 2011 at the hands of the state. This included the Sednaya military prison, a facility notorious as the site of particularly brutal and humiliating methods of torture.
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Iraq has reportedly evacuated its embassy in Syria and moved staff to Lebanon, hours after rebels overthrew Assad and took control of the capital. Reasons behind the evacuation were not made public.
