Syrian regime crumbles: Rebels seize control of Damascus

On Sunday evening, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad left the capital city, Damascus, aboard a plane that departed in an unknown direction, according to international agencies citing local media and sources within the Syrian army.

This information was confirmed in an interview with the German agency dpa by Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Syrian rebels reported that their troops entered Damascus without encountering resistance from government forces.

Sounds of intense gunfire were heard in central Damascus, reported Reuters, citing two city residents.

Prime Minister Muhammad Ghazi al-Jalali announced he is prepared for cooperation. "We are ready to cooperate with any leader chosen by the people. This morning, I will be at the Council of Ministers and will be ready for power transfer procedures," he stated in a recording.

Earlier, rebels reported that they captured Homs, the country's third-largest city, on Saturday. In recent days, they have also seized Aleppo, Hama, and have taken control of nearly the entire southwestern part of the country.

Rebels are on the northern outskirts of the city; battles are ongoing, there is no electricity, the internet is very weak, and people are sheltering in their homes, a different resident of the Syrian capital told CNN.

"Militarily, Damascus has already fallen," a source familiar with the rebels' actions told the station. It was added that rebel reconnaissance units had previously entered the city, tasked with finding President Bashar al-Assad, but they did not capture him. The CNN source added that Rebels occupy key positions in the city's strategic points.

Rebels added that they liberated a military prison in the town of Saydnaya, located about 16 kilometres north of Damascus, where thousands of Assad regime opponents were held.

The battles, ongoing for a week and a half, are the most serious clashes in Syria since 2020, when the front lines were frozen in the civil war that has been raging since 2011. Assad's regime managed to regain control of most of the country's territory, largely thanks to support from Russia and Iran.

Both countries continued supporting Assad's regime, with Russian aviation regularly bombing rebel-held cities, but both Moscow and Tehran are also involved in other conflicts. Russia has been waging war in Ukraine for over two years, while Iran has been supporting Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis' actions against Israel for over a year.

According to SOHR, more than 800 people have died in the current phase of the conflict in Syria, including over 100 civilians. The UN reported 370,000 refugees. Since 2011, at least half a million people have died in the Syrian civil war.