Damascus: Syrian rebels say they have captured the capital, Damascus, and announced the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, Al Jazeera reports said on Sunday.
“The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled,” the armed opposition said in a statement.
“We declare Damascus free of the tyrant Bashar al-Assad. Opposition forces claim al-Assad has now fled Syria.’
And moments before opposition fighters took control of the airport, open-source flight trackers recorded a single plane in Syria’s airspace.
An Illyushin 76 aircraft with flight number Syrian Air 9218 was the last flight to take off from Damascus, the report said.
First, it flew east, then it turned north. A few minutes later, its signal disappeared as it circled over Homs.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has boarded a plane and left Damascus for an unknown destination.
The Syrian armed opposition says the end of al-Assad’s government marks a new chapter in Syria’s history, the report said.
“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.
UNI
