Rebels Seize Damascus; Assad Flees Amid Rapid Gains

After a week of fighting, rebel forces stormed the Syrian capital, Damascus, Sunday, a major snub to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Insurgent sources cited by Reuters say they see no signs of government forces in the city.

According to reports, Assad reportedly fled aboard a plane to an undisclosed location in the face of imminent defeat in Damascus. Reuters reported that Senior Syrian army officers confirmed that the army retreated. Syrian military also filmed deserting Damascus International Airport which is now under rebel control, the UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Residents of Damascus reported gunfire, some of them saying they heard mass regime loyalist evacuations. The AFP was able to corroborate reports of widespread chaos and fears of the collapse of Assad’s government.

Rebels later claimed they seized control of the infamous Saydnaya military prison, north of the capital. Rebels declared they have freed prisoners and called: “We celebrate the end of injustice in Saydnaya prison.”

The Rebel Offensive

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group linked to Al Qaeda, spearheaded the offensive that began on November 27. After quickly capturing Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city and others such as the key northern cities of Daraa and Hama, barely any resistance was met by rebels.

Rebels that have encircled Damascus and fought their way into Homs, a key hub linking the Syrian capital to Assad’s coastal strongholds in Latakia and Tartus, seized the city, the state news agency SANA said on Saturday. Swift advances plus a dearth of support from Assad’s traditional allies are the greatest threat to his rule since the civil war began in 2011.

If Damascus falls, the government will control only two of Syria’s 14 provincial capitals: Latakia and Tartus.

The Assad Regime  

Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and his family has ruled Syria for more than 50 years. They are accused under his regime of killing more than 350,000 people, detaining and torturing opponents, and using banned chemical weapons.

In 2011, acts of anti-Assad protests ignited by Arab Spring was the beginning of the Syrian conflict. It quickly turned into a civil war, and was violently crushed by the authorities. Russian intervention in 2015 helped Assad hang on, but the latest rebel gains are now putting an end to his four decades in power.