Syrian opposition fighters say President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule has come to an end after they seized the capital, Damascus.
Al-Assad has stepped down and left Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry says. His whereabouts remain unknown.
As the al-Assad family’s 50-plus-year rule over the country comes to a close, Syrians are celebrating and looking to the future.
Thousands of Syrians are taking the streets to celebrate after Syrian opposition fighters announced the toppling of the Assad regime.
Syria has been under a dictatorship for 50+ years. The end of the family’s regime is being described as a “historic moment” for the country.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Julani, who led the overthrow, has made a victory speech in the Umayyad Mosque in the old city of Damascus.
“The [al-Assad] regime has imprisoned thousands of its own civilians unjustly and without them committing any crimes,” he said in comments filmed by Al Jazeera Mubasher.
“We are the rightful owners [of this country], we have been fighting, and today we have been rewarded with this victory.”
Al-Julani, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group, called for prayers to give thanks for the triumph.
Amnesty International has reacted to the removal of al-Assad, saying the development represents a “historic opportunity” to redress decades of rights violations.
“After over five decades of brutality and repression, the people of Syria may finally have an opportunity to live free of fear with their rights respected,” said the rights group’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard, noting decades of “horrifying” abuses committed by Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez al-Assad.
Credit: aljazeera.com
