By John Oyewale, Daily Caller News Foundation | December 08, 2024
Syria’s president, Bashar Al-Assad, fled to Russia as rebels and the Syrian army announced the end of his 24-year-old regime Sunday, according to reports. Syrian rebels announced the regime’s sudden collapse on state television, Reuters reported. The Syrian army command likewise informed officers of the regime’s end, the outlet reported, citing a Syrian military officer.
“The great Syrian revolution has moved from the stage of struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build a Syria together that befits the sacrifices of its people,” the rebels announced in a statement, Reuters reported.
The rebels entered Damascus encountering no resistance from the army, according to the outlet. Residents were also reported to have entered the Al-Rawda Presidential Palace and carted away furniture.
The rebels also reportedly freed prisoners from Saydnaya prison, a notorious military prison about 19 miles north of Damascus branded a “human slaughterhouse,” according to Amnesty International.
Assad departed Damascus by air for an unknown destination early Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters. A Syrian Air plane reportedly took off from Damascus airport around the time the city fell to the rebels, but the passengers’ identities were not immediately clear to Reuters.
Assad and his family entered Moscow as asylees, Russian state media TASS reported. Russia also called for the resumption of UN-mediated talks toward a “political settlement of the Syrian crisis,” according to the outlet.
The Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) declared Dec. 8 to be an annual national holiday in its congratulatory message to the Syrian people. The SOC also said it was committed to transferring power to a transitional government, “paving the way for a free, democratic, and pluralistic Syria” which will ensure “the safety and security of neighboring countries and avoiding any interference in their internal affairs.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Assad left Syria after ordering a peaceful transition of power, according to Reuters.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali subsequently called for free elections and contacted Abu Mohammed al-Golani, head of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), to discuss the transition, according to the outlet.
Videos surfaced online showing people celebrating Assad’s ouster both within and outside Syria — including in Germany and the U.K.
The U.S., concerned about a possible resurgence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), will maintain its presence in eastern Syria, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Daniel Shapiro said Sunday, according to the outlet.
“Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer,” President-elect Donald Trump wrote early Sunday on Truth Social.
Tump’s social media post follows an earlier one calling for the U.S. to not intervene in the situation.
“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend,” Trump said Saturday.
“Many of ‘the rebels’ are a literal offshoot of ISIS. One can hope they’ve moderated. Time will tell,” said Vice President-elect J.D. Vance.
“This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
President Joe Biden also delivered remarks.
The U.N. Syria Commission of Inquiry described the ouster as “a historic new beginning” for Syria.
The HTS, designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., Russia and Turkey, started the 13-day lightning offensive which brought down Assad’s regime on Nov. 26, Reuters reported. Formerly named the Nusra Front, the group was reportedly linked to Al-Qaeda until it severed ties in 2016.
Another rebel group, the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army, launched a separate offensive. Both groups seized the city of Aleppo between Nov. 29-30 from government forces for the first time since 2016. This sparked the largest escalation of the conflict since the civil war which followed the 2011 Arab Spring uprising in Syria against Assad, according to the outlet.
The rebels then swept into the city of Hama and captured the strategic city of Homs before Damascus fell.
Assad used chemical weapons in 2013 and 2017 against Syrians during the Arab Spring protests and the civil war in his country, Reuters reported. President Barack Obama set a “red line” against chemical attacks in Syria in 2012 but failed to respond to the 2013 incident.
President Trump branded Assad an “animal” and launched cruise missiles in response to the 2017 attack. The perceived failure of the U.S. to respond decisively to the 2013 chemical attack drew sharp criticism from Trump.
Russia helped to prop up Assad’s regime as it intervened in Syria’s civil war in 2015, but its response to the rebels’ latest blitz was limited amid its war in Ukraine. Iran-linked militias — including Hezbollah — had also helped Assad’s regime as Assad belongs to the Alawite sect of Shi’a Islam. Hezbollah, however, weakened by Israeli airstrikes, could not offer much help to Assad in this instance.
Assad, trained as an eye doctor in the U.K., took office in 2000 after his father Hafez’s death.
John Oyewale is a contributor at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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