Thursday, 26 December 2024

DEVELOPING: Bashar al-Assad Flees Syria For Russia As Government Appears To Have Fallen, Reports Claim

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family fled the country as reports swirled of rebel groups toppling the government and taking the capital of Damascus.

Multiple reports stated that Assad landed in Moscow after fleeing Syria.

WATCH:

From The Times of Israel:

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow and have been granted asylum by the Russian authorities, Russian news agencies report, citing a Kremlin source.

The Interfax news agency quotes the unnamed source as saying: “President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds.”

Assad’s departure follows reports of a coalition of Syrian rebel groups rapidly advancing on government-held territory to overtake Damascus.

POLITICO reports:

An Associated Press journalist in Damascus reported seeing groups of armed residents along the road in the outskirts of the capital and hearing sounds of gunshots. The city’s main police headquarters appeared to be abandoned, its door left ajar with no officers outside. Another AP journalist shot footage of an abandoned army checkpoint where uniforms were discarded on the ground under a poster of Assad’s face.

It was the first time opposition forces had reached Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured areas on the outskirts of the capital following a yearslong siege.

The pro-government Sham FM radio reported that the Damascus airport had been evacuated and all flights halted.

The insurgents also announced they had entered the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital and “liberated” their prisoners there.

The night before, opposition forces took the central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as government forces abandoned it. The city stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.

Per Axios:

Syrian rebel groups seized control of Damascus on Sunday and declared the country to be “free,” following the capture of several major cities in a lightning offensive over the past several weeks.

The rebels’ move into Damascus with no meaningful resistance is proof of the de facto collapse of the Assad regime, which has clung to power through 14 years of civil war.

It’s a stunning development and another major regional earthquake after a year of war in the Middle East, further destabilizing Syria and the region in the short term.

In the longer term, it could have dramatic implications not only for Syria, but also its allies: Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, which helped keep President Bashar al-Assad in power after the 2011 uprising.


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