The armed opposition in Syria says they have captured the capital, Damascus, and that the country’s long serving president, Bashar al-Assad, has fled......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
There were jubilant scenes in Damascus as captured in viral videos after the fighters seized control of Damascus. They had hours earlier seized the city of Homs in a lightning offensive.
“After 50 years of oppression under Baathist rule and 13 years of criminality, tyranny and displacement, and after a long struggle, confronting all sorts of occupation forces, we declare today, December 8, 2024, the end of that dark era and the start of a new era for Syria,” the rebels said in a statement.
The commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, had said the government’s collapse is near and promised to protect people in areas the group controls.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Russia issued a joint statement saying the crisis is a “dangerous development” and calling for a political solution.
The Reuters news agency, citing witnesses, is reporting that thousands of people in cars and on foot are congregating in central Damascus, chanting, “Freedom!”
Videos posted online, verified by Al Jazeera, show several people in the Ummayad Square, standing on an abandoned military tank and singing in celebration.
The rebels have hailed the purported fall of the Syrian government as a “moment of freedom after decades of pain and suffering”.
“To Syrians abroad all over the world, Syria awaits you,” the armed opposition said in a statement.
