Syrian rebels topple President Assad, prime minister calls for free elections

8/12/2024 16:55

Syrian rebels announced on state television on Sunday that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, eliminating a 50-year family dynasty in a lightning offensive that raises the spectre of a new wave of instability in a Middle East gripped by war.



Syria's army command notified officers on Sunday that Assad's regime had ended, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move told Reuters.



But the Syrian army later said it was continuing operations against "terrorist groups" in the key cities of Hama and Homs and in Deraa countryside.



Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination earlier on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.



"We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners and releasing their chains and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison," the rebels said, referring to a large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus where the Syrian government detained thousands.