Syria opposition declares victory, Assad deposed after 24-year rule

Syrian opposition forces have declared that the 24-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad has come to an end, just hours after fighters entered the capital, Damascus, following a rapid advance across the country.

In a statement broadcast live on Syrian national television on Sunday, a group of fighters announced that “the tyrant al-Assad has been toppled” and reported that all prisoners had been freed from a major prison facility in Damascus.

“The city of Damascus has been liberated. The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown. All the prisoners have been released from the prison in Damascus,” a leader of the group stated.

“We urge all our fighters and citizens to preserve and maintain the property of the state of Syria. Long live Syria,” he added.

The opposition reported that al-Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for over 50 years, fled the capital, and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

In a video statement, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was prepared to “extend its hand” to the opposition and transfer its functions to a transitional government.

“I am in my house and I have not left because of my commitment to this country,” Jalali said in the video. He mentioned that he would go to his office the next morning to continue working and urged Syrian citizens not to deface public property.

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At the same time, Abu Mohamed al-Julani, the head of the main fighting group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has instructed opposition fighters not to attack any public institutions or services.

Exclusive footage captured by Al Jazeera showed the opposition fighters entering the presidential palace in Damascus. Videos posted online also showed residents taking down images of the president.

“The fall of the Assad regime is the end of an era in the Middle East, and it will have big news implications across the region,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh.

The armed opposition also shared a video that it says was taken by its fighters from the strategic Mezzeh airbase in Damascus. The site played a major role in launching government rocket attacks and air raids against opposition-held territory.

Earlier on Sunday, fighters entered the heart of the capital announcing that a “new era” free of revenge, inviting Syrians overseas to return. The opposition forces had already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began on November 27.

Hadi al-Bahra, who heads the Syrian political opposition coalition overseas, declared Damascus “free of al-Assad” and congratulated the Syrian people.

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