1 month ago
'The future is ours,' says rebel leader in first statement
Rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said in a statement read on Syria’s state TV after his forces took over Damascus that there is no room for turning back and the group is determined to continue the path they started in 2011 during the Arab spring.
“The future is ours,” al-Jolani’s statement said.
Jolani operated from the shadows for years. Now, he is in the limelight, giving interviews to the international media and appearing on the ground in Syria’s second city Aleppo after wresting it from government control for the first time in the country’s civil war.
Since breaking ties with Al-Qaida in 2016, Jolani has sought to portray himself as a more moderate leader. But he is yet to quell suspicions among analysts and western governments that still class HTS as a terrorist organisation (you can read more about Jolani in this explainer).
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Summary of the day so far...
Russia said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had left office and departed his country after giving orders for a peaceful transfer of power, but did not say where he was now or whether the Russian military planned to stay in Syria.
Syrian anti-government rebels declared they had ousted Assad after seizing control of Damascus on Sunday, ending his family’s decades of autocratic rule after more than 13 years of civil war.
Rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said in a statement read on Syria’s state TV that there is no room for turning back. “The future is ours,” his statement said. Al-Jolani, commander of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), reportedly said that all state institutions will remain under the supervision of al-Assad’s prime minister until they are handed over officially.
The Lebanese army says it is reinforcing its presence on the border with neighbouring Syria after the dramatic fall of the Assad government.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the collapse of the Assad regime “offers great opportunity”, but warned that it is also “fraught with significant dangers”, adding that he will “take action against possible threats (to Israel)”.
A curfew has been declared in Damascus, where people are celebrating in the streets, from 4pm (13:00 GMT) until 5am (02:00 GMT).
The Pentagon has said the US will keep a presence in eastern Syria and take the appropriate steps to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State.
US president-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Assad had “fled his country” after losing the backing of Russia. “Assad is gone,” he said on his Truth Social platform. “His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.”
Iraq has reportedly evacuated its embassy in Syria and moved staff to Lebanon, hours after rebels overthrew Assad and took control of the capital. Reasons behind the evacuation were not made public.
As armed rebels swept cities across Syria, they flung open detention facilities where rights groups estimated that at least 100,000 people were considered missing or forcibly disappeared since 2011 at the hands of the state. This included the Sednaya military prison, a facility notorious as the site of particularly brutal and humiliating methods of torture.
Syrian rebels entered the residence of the Italian ambassador in Damascus on Sunday, but did not harm him or his security staff, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said.
The anti-government fighters were looking for pro-Assad troops or relevant documents, and left after firing a few shots against a wall, Tajani told a press conference.
He said:
This morning an armed group entered the garden of the ambassador’s residence. They took away only three cars and that was it. Neither the ambassador nor the Carabinieri (embassy police) were harmed.
We are calling for a peaceful handover between the fallen regime and the new reality, so for a peaceful rather than military transition. It seems to me that at the moment things are going in this direction.
'The future is ours,' says rebel leader in first statement
Rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said in a statement read on Syria’s state TV after his forces took over Damascus that there is no room for turning back and the group is determined to continue the path they started in 2011 during the Arab spring.
“The future is ours,” al-Jolani’s statement said.
Jolani operated from the shadows for years. Now, he is in the limelight, giving interviews to the international media and appearing on the ground in Syria’s second city Aleppo after wresting it from government control for the first time in the country’s civil war.
Since breaking ties with Al-Qaida in 2016, Jolani has sought to portray himself as a more moderate leader. But he is yet to quell suspicions among analysts and western governments that still class HTS as a terrorist organisation (you can read more about Jolani in this explainer).
Benjamin Netanyahu hails fall of Assad as 'historic day' but warns against 'possible threats'
Speaking on a visit to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was a “historic day” in the Middle East and the fall of a “central link in Iran’s axis of evil”.
“This is a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, Assad’s main supporters. It has triggered a chain reaction across the Middle East, empowering those seeking to break free from this oppressive regime,” he said.
In a video posted to X, Netanyahu said the collapse of the Assad regime “offers great opportunity”, but caveats that it is also “fraught with significant dangers”, adding that he will “take action against possible threats”.
Israel, concerned by what it frames as Iran’s “military entrenchment” in Syria, has launched many airstrikes on targets in Syria that it claims are linked to Iran and allied armed groups such as Hezbollah.
Syrian rebels broadcast first news bulletin on state television – video
Syrian rebels have broadcast their first news bulletin on state television, announcing that they have “won the bet and toppled the criminal Assad regime”. Talking on Syria’s main news channel, the anchor said:
To those who thought one day that we were broken, we announce to you from the Syrian News Channel the victory of the great Syrian revolution after 13 years of patience and sacrifice.
You can watch the full broadcast here:
Syrian rebels enter northern city of Manbij - report
Turkey-backed Syrian forces entered the northern Syrian city of Manbij after taking control of most of the surrounding area from US- allied Kurdish forces there, a Turkish security source has told Reuters.
Reuters has the following report:
The operation comes after Syrian rebels in the south declared President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster after seizing control of Damascus.
“The fight against the YPG/PKK is very close to victory. Both air and land interventions are ongoing to take Manbij from the hands of the YPG/PKK,” the source said, referring to the Kurdish militia which has long been in control of Manbij.
The source subsequently said the rebel forces were in the city of Manbij itself. There was no immediate comment from Kurdish forces in the city, some 30 km (19 miles) south of the Turkish border and to the west of the Euphrates river.
Syrian rebels earlier said they had started an attack on Manbij, according to a statement posted on Sunday but dated Dec. 7 (Saturday) on X by the ministry of defence of the Syrian interim government.
The YPG has been a central element of US-allied forces in a coalition against Islamic State militants. Ankara says the YPG is a terrorist group, closely tied to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.
Here are some of the latest images coming out from the newswires:
Lebanese army 'reinforcing presence' on Syrian border in light of 'rapid developments'
The Lebanese army says it is reinforcing its presence on the border with neighbouring Syria after the dramatic fall of the Assad government.
The army said in a statement:
In light of rapid developments and delicate circumstances that the region is going through… units tasked with monitoring and controlling the northern and eastern borders have been reinforced, in conjunction with tightening surveillance measures.
Lebanese caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said he discussed the security situation at the Syrian border with army commander Joseph Aoun and security forces chiefs.
“In these calls on the priority of tightening control over the border and distancing Lebanon from the repercussions of the developments in Syria”, his office said.
Syrian rebels have announced a curfew in Damascus starting 4pm local time until 5am.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II has said his government “stands by its Syrian brothers and respects their will and choices”, after rebels forces toppled Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
According to a royal statement, the king told his national security council that there was a “need to protect Syria’s security, its citizens” and to work towards “stability” and avoid any conflict that may lead to chaos.
Jordan’s interior minister has said the country had closed its side of the border as “a result of the surrounding security conditions in Syria’s south”. Amman has urged its citizens to leave Syria as soon as possible.
Qatar’s foreign ministry on Sunday warned Syria must not be allowed to descend into chaos after Islamist-led rebels declared they had taken Damascus and ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
The Gulf emirate said it was “closely monitoring the developments in Syria” and emphasised “the necessity of preserving national institutions and the unity of the state to prevent it from sliding into chaos”.
Qatar - which gave early support to the rebels after Assad’s government crushed a peaceful uprising in 2011, leading to the civil war - has remained a fierce critic of the Syrian President, who has, according to Moscow, left Damascus after talks with “other participants in the armed conflict”.
Egypt has called on all parties in Syria to preserve the capabilities of the state and national institutions, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Sunday, after the surprise ousting of President Bashar al-Assad by rebels.
The foreign ministry, in the first comments on the situation in Syria from an Arab government, said it was following the situation with great care, affirming its support for the Syrian people and the country’s sovereignty and unity.
'The barbaric state has fallen,' says French president Emmanuel Macron
French president Emmanuel Macron welcomed news of the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Sunday and said France will remain committed to the security of all in the Middle East.
“The barbaric state has fallen. Finally. I pay tribute to the Syrian people, to their courage, to their patience. In this moment of uncertainty, I wish them peace, freedom and unity,” Macron said in a post on X. “France will remain committed to the security of all in the Middle East.”
'The end of Assad's rule over Syria is good news,' says German chancellor Olaf Scholz
Deborah Cole
Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz has issued a statement on Syria, reports my colleague Deborah Cole.
Bashar al-Assad brutally oppressed his own people, has countless lives on his conscience and has driven numerous people to flee Syria, many of whom came to Germany. The Syrian people have suffered terribly. The end of Assad’s rule over Syria is therefore good news.
What matters now is that law and order are quickly restored in Syria. All religious communities, all minorities must enjoy protection now and in the future. A political solution to the conflict in Syria in accordance with UN security council Resolution 2254 is still possible.
We will judge the future rulers by whether they make it possible for all Syrians to live in dignity and self-determination, defend Syria’s sovereignty against malicious interference by third parties and live in peace with their neighbours.
Syrian rebels inside the presidential palace in Damascus - video
A video here shows Syrian rebels inside the presidential palace in Damascus:
This is from the BBC’s Lina Sinjab, who is reporting from Damascus;
We are standing by the presidential palace - one of the palaces where Assad used to live.
Lots of people, many coming from rural areas, broke into the palace and they have almost emptied it and destroyed everything.
By the time we arrived, the place had been almost emptied except for some pieces of furniture.
Members of rebel group the HTS have arrived to control the situation - they have said this is not acceptable.
I’ve lived in Syria for 10 years and have never been into this street.
I can see people rushing into this place in revenge and also with lots of happiness that they’ve managed to break in.
The scenes are very chaotic inside. There has been looting in other government buildings but this is a different situation.
People are going in, posing for pictures while taking what they can. They are taking revenge for years of oppression and poverty because of Assad and his father.
Assad has left Syria, Russian foreign ministry says
Bashar al-Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, has left the country after giving orders there be a peaceful handover of power, according to Russia’s foreign ministry. It is unclear where he is. The ministry said that Moscow has not taken part in the talks around his departure.
It did disclose, however, that Russia’s military bases in Syria had been put on a state of high alert, though there is no serious threat to them presently. It said Moscow was in touch with all Syrian opposition groups and urged all sides to refrain from violence, Reuters reported. Russia, along with Iran, had been a key ally of Assad, having provided him military assistance to remain in power despite widespread unpopularity.
Syrian foreign ministry says a 'new page is being written' in the country's history today
The Syrian foreign ministry has just issued a statement, in which it says “a new page is being written in the history of Syria” today with the country having endured nearly 14 years of civil war.
Here is the statement, posted to X, in full:
Syrian brothers: today, a new page is being written in the history of Syria, to inaugurate a national covenant and charter that unites the word of the Syrians, unites them and does not divide them, in order to build one homeland in which justice and equality prevail and in which everyone enjoys all rights and duties, far from one opinion. And citizenship is the basis.
The Ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates of the Syrian Arab republic and its diplomatic missions abroad will remain committed to serving all fellow citizens and managing their affairs, based on the trust they bear in representing the Syrian people, and that the homeland remains supreme.
Bashar al-Assad suppressed a popular uprising against him in 2011, when Syrians first took to the streets of major cities to demand his overthrow. What began as peaceful demonstrations later spilled over into a civil war that is estimated to have killed more than 300,000 people in 10 years of fighting, as my colleague writes in our latest report on the lightning rebel offensive.
Assad willingly turned the full might of the state on his own people in order to maintain control, including pummelling the civilian population with airstrikes and using chemical weapons including the deadly nerve agent sarin.
“We have to be watchful during this transition period,” Fidan added. “We are in communication with the groups to make sure that terrorist organisations, especially Daesh and PKK, are not taking advantage of the situation.” He said that Turkey was committed to “continue fighting against terrorism”, adding that all minorities, including Kurds, “should be treated equally”.
