Assad’s destination unknown, officers say

• Rebels enter Damascus
• Thousands celebrate “Freedom” in Damascus

• 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.
  Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting “Freedom” from a half century of Assad family rule, witnesses said.

  The dramatic collapse also marks a seismic moment for the Middle East, dealing a massive blow to Russia and Iran, which have lost a key ally at the heart of the region and creating more uncertainty as the Gaza war rages.

  The pace of events has stunned Arab capitals and raised fears of a new wave of regional instability.

  It marks a turning point for Syria, shattered by more than 13 years of war which has turned cities to rubble, killed hundreds of thousands of people, and forced millions abroad as refugees.

  Stabilising western areas of Syria captured in the rebels’ advance will be key. Western governments, which have shunned the Assad-led state for years, must decide how to deal with a new administration in which a globally designated terrorist group – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – looks set to have influence.

  HTS, which spearheaded the rebel advances across western Syria, was formerly an al Qaeda affiliate known as the Nusra Front until its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, severed ties with the global jihadist movement in 2016.

  “The real question is how orderly will this transition be, and it seems quite clear that Golani is very eager for it to be an orderly one,” said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

  Golani will not want a repeat of the chaos that swept Iraq after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. “They are going to have to rebuild … they will need Europe and the U.S. to lift sanctions,” Landis said.

  HTS is Syria’s strongest rebel group and some Syrians remain fearful it will impose draconian Islamist rule or instigate reprisals.

  Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, both close U.S. allies, see Islamist militant groups as an existential threat, so HTS may face resistance from regional powers.

  In a conference in Manama, Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the United Arab Emirates president, said a main concern for that country is “extremism and terrorism.”

  A Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus airport around the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels, according to data from the Flightradar website.

  The aircraft initially flew towards Syria’s coastal region, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect, but then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.