Syria War Updates: Assad out, HTS in; world leaders calls for stability in Damascus

Syrians in and around the world are celebrating. The more than 50 years of the Assad regime — with Bashar al-Assad in power since 2000 — has come to an end with the rebels entering the capital, Damascus, on Sunday.

The Syrian rebels announced early Sunday (December 8) that it had defeated al-Assad’s regime, forcing the ousted president to flee the country, with Russian media reporting that he has been given asylum there.

As the insurgents swept across Syria in just 10 days to bring an end to the Assad family’s 50-year rule, they broke into prisons and security facilities to free political prisoners and many of the tens of thousands of people who disappeared since the conflict began back in 2011.

Videos shared widely across social media showed dozens of prisoners running in celebration after the insurgents released them, some barefoot and others wearing little clothing. One of them screams in celebration after he finds out that the government has fallen.

Syria’s prisons have been infamous for their harsh conditions. Torture is systematic, say human rights groups, whistleblowers, and former detainees. Secret executions have been reported at more than two dozen facilities run by Syrian intelligence, as well as at other sites.

In 2013, a Syrian military defector, known as “Caesar,” smuggled out over 53,000 photographs that human rights groups say showed clear evidence of rampant torture, but also disease and starvation in Syria’s prison facilities.

Syria’s feared security apparatus and prisons did not only serve to isolate Assad’s opponents, but also to instill fear among his own people said Lina Khatib, Associate Fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at the London think tank Chatham House.

A day after Islamist rebels captured power in Syria, India on Monday called for a peaceful and inclusive Syrian-led political process to bring stability in that country.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it is monitoring the unfolding developments in Syria.

“We are monitoring the situation in Syria in the light of ongoing developments,” it said.

“We underline the need for all parties to work towards preserving the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.” “We advocate a peaceful and inclusive Syrian-led political process respecting the interests and aspirations of all sections of Syrian society,” the MEA said in a statement.

It further said the Indian embassy in Damascus is in contact with the Indian community, for their safety and security.

After the rebel groups freed prisoners from Sednaya prison in Syria, reports are emerging that the subterranean cells of the so-called “human slaughterhouse” are still inaccessible, with fears that multiple people might be trapped inside it. Syrian Civil Defence forces, the White Helmets, said that they have deployed 5 specialized emergency teams to Sednaya Prison to investigate hidden cells.

The volunteer organisation emphasised that it can be a challenging operation and might cause delays. “The White Helmets has deployed 5 specialized emergency teams to Sednaya Prison to investigate hidden underground cells, reportedly holding detainees according to survivors,” The White Helmets wrote on X, formally known as Twitter.

Israel conducted airstrikes across Syria over the weekend to prevent chemical weapons and missiles left behind by fleeing forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad from falling into the hands of opposition forces.

There is “a lot of work ahead” in Syria to create a democratic and inclusive nation, according to Hind Kabawat, director of interfaith peace-building at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution.

“We’re not 100 percent sure what will happen, but for the past few days, my Christian community [in Syria] has been in good shape,” Kabawat, a Syrian Christian, told Al Jazeera, referring to the lack of “violations.”

Nevertheless, she advised that “we shouldn’t relax” and continue to keep a close eye on whether the opposition forces are keeping their promise to respect religious minorities.

“A sectarian war in Syria is the last thing we want right now,” Kabawat continued.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Russia’s abandonment of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad led to his downfall, adding Moscow never should have protected him in the first place and then lost interest because of a war in Ukraine that never should have started.

“Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by (President) Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

“There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place,” Trump wrote. “They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine … a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.”

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, added that Russia and Iran, Assad’s other main backer, “are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success”.

The Assad family’s 50-year rule in Syria ended after a sudden rebel offensive that captured government-held areas and reached the capital within ten days. President Bashar al-Assad was ousted and fled the country.

Shortly after, Syrians entered his abandoned presidential palace in Damascus, looted valuables, posed at his desk, and found a collection of luxury cars.

Even as Syrian opposition forces pushed against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, Turkey opened another front in northern Syria over the weekend.

Turkish forces and a Turkey-sponsored militia attacked the US-backed Kurdish forces in the eastern Aleppo province, according to UK-based war monitor Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR) and Kurish forces.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria’s President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. As he entered Damascus behind his victorious fighters Sunday, he even dropped his nom de guerre and referred to himself with his real name, Ahmad al-Sharaa.

The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test.

Insurgents control Damascus, Assad has fled into hiding, and for the first time after 50 years of his family’s iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed.

Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad’s state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility that Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix.

Syrian refugees across Turkey jubilantly welcomed the downfall of Bashar Assad’s government Sunday, with many embracing the chance to return to their homeland.

Large crowds waving Syrian and Turkish flags gathered in the main square of Kilis, a border city in southern Turkey.

In Hatay province, which also lies on the Syrian frontier, many said it was time to go home after years of living in Turkey, which hosts some 3 million Syrians.

“We are free now, everyone should return to their homeland,” Mahmud Esma told the DHA news agency at the Cilvegozu border gate.

Turkey, which shares a 911-kilometer- (566-mile-) long frontier with Syria, has been a main backer of opposition groups aiming to topple Assad since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.

The UN Security Council will convene Monday afternoon for an emergency closed door meeting regarding Syria in the aftermath of president Bashar al-Assad fleeing the country, multiple diplomatic sources told AFP on Sunday.

The meeting, set for 3:00 pm (2000 GMT), was requested by Russia earlier on Sunday.

US President Joe Biden on Sunday said deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad should be “held accountable” but called the nation’s political upheaval a “historic opportunity” for Syrians to rebuild their country.

In the first full US reaction to Assad’s overthrow by an Islamist-led coalition of rebel factions, Biden also warned that Washington will “remain vigilant” against the emergence of terrorist groups, announcing that US forces had just conducted fresh strikes against militants from the Islamic State organization.

“The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice,” Biden said from the White House. “It’s a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria.”

President Bashar al-Assad fled Syria as Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus, triggering celebrations across the country and beyond at the end of his oppressive rule.

Crowds cheered in the streets of Damascus, where celebratory gunfire erupted as five decades of brutal Baath party rule came crashing to a dramatic end with Assad’s flight from the capital on Sunday.

Russian news agencies said that Assad and his family were in Moscow, while rescuers on Monday searched the Syrian capital’s notorious Sednaya prison for hidden underground cells holding detainees in secret.

Assad’s government fell 11 days after the rebels began a surprise advance, more than 13 years after Assad’s crackdown on anti-government protests ignited Syria’s civil war — which had become largely dormant until the rebel push.

While reacting to the dramatic victory of the Rebel groups in Syria, the European Union welcomed the fall of the country’s ousted President Bashar Al Assad. Top diplomats of the EU maintained that the rebel groups’ takeover of Syria was not only a defeat for Assad’s regime but also a setback for the country’s allies Russia and Iran.

“The end of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s dictatorship is a positive and long-awaited development. It also shows the weakness of Assad’s backers, Russia and Iran,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said in a statement Sunday. “Our priority is to ensure regional security,” she said.

World powers vowed to work for stability in Syria and the surrounding region after Islamist-led rebels on Sunday toppled its longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.