Syrians across the world have shed tears of joy in response to the ousting of former president Bashar al-Assad as they celebrate a sudden end to the ‘tyrant’s’ 24-year-reign.
Exiled nationals are gathering in London, Berlin and Madrid among other cities to express their support after opposition fighters reached the suburbs of Damascus yesterday for the first time since the region was recaptured by government troops in 2018.
Syrian state television showed militant fighters milling around inside al-Assad’s palace after he reportedly fled this morning on a plane to an unknown destination.
The deposing of al-Assad marked the end of a chapter in a series of events that has ultimately cost the lives of an estimated 470,000 – 610,000 people since civil war began in 2011.
In photos that capture celebrations across the globe, the Syrian flag features heavily as do exiled Syrians who smile and proudly shout their support for ‘democracy’.
Others have torn up images of the missing president as they shout they are finally ‘free’.
Meanwhile, in Damascus, as well as taking to the streets to celebrate, a group of Syrians ransacked Assad’s abandoned palace dressing rooms taking huge Louis Vuitton boxes before breaking into his supercar-filled garage.
Following the capture of Damascus, the HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham) rebels said on Telegram that it was the end of a dark era and the beginning of a new one.
Syrians living in Berlin gather in Oranienplatz Square, Kreuzberg to celebrate with signs which say things like ‘hope for democracy’
Men gesture as people gather at Oranienplatz square, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Berlin, Germany December 8, 2024
yrian people living in London gather at the Trafalgar Square to celebrate as sixty-one years of Baath Party rule in Syria collapses
They added that people displaced or imprisoned under the half-century reign of Assad could now come home.
HTS concluded it would be a ‘new Syria’ where ‘everyone lives in peace and justice prevails’.
The news has also been greeted happily by the US, Israel and France among other western countries.
It comes as Iran, Russia and Hezbollah had provided support to al-Assad, suggesting a major blow for Putin, and despite the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who say they will ‘build’ the new country being designated a terrorist organisation by the US and UK – as well as Russia.
As daylight broke over Damascus, crowds gathered to pray in the city’s mosques and to celebrate in the squares, chanting ‘God is great.’ People also chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked car horns.
In the streets, teen boys picked up weapons that had apparently been discarded by security forces and fired them in the air.
Soldiers and police officers left their posts and fled, and looters broke into the Defense Ministry. Videos from Damascus showed families wandering into the presidential palace, with some emerging carrying stacks of plates and other household items.
‘I did not sleep last night, and I refused to sleep until I heard the news of his fall,’ said Mohammed Amer Al-Oulabi, 44, who works in the electricity sector.
People celebrate at Umayyad Square in Damascus on December 8, 2024, as rebel soldiers declare that they have taken the capital
People kick a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al Assad after Syria’s army command notified officers that al-Assad’s 24-year rule has ended
People sit on a tank as they gather at Umayyad Square in Damascus on December 8, 2024
Syrian state television showed the rebels milling around inside Bashar al-Assad’s presidential palace after the leader fled on a plane to an unknown destination
‘From Idlib to Damascus, it only took them (the opposition forces) a few days, thank God. May God bless them, the heroic lions who made us proud.’
One resident said the city was on edge, with security forces on the streets and many shops running out of staple foods.
The Syrian army withdrew from much of the country’s south on Saturday but later said it was fortifying positions in the Damascus suburbs and in the south.
Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany has also said that insurgent forces have ‘fully liberated’ Syria’s central city of Homs.
Meanwhile, in Berlin a man dressed as Santa Claus even joined the celebrations today.
Others hugged each other and children were made up with face paint displaying the Syrian flag.
HTS and the other rebel groups are trying to consolidate their rule in Aleppo, bringing it under the administration of the so-called Salvation Government they established in their northwestern enclave.
A rebel leader on Syria’s public broadcaster said people were ‘fed up with 50 years of Assad rule,’ and the Foreign Ministry issued a statement heralding a ‘new page’ for the country.
Syrian people living in London gather at the Trafalgar Square to celebrate as sixty-one years of Baath Party rule in Syria collapsed on Sunday
People with flag of the Syrian Republic and a man dressed as Santa Claus celebrate the fall of the Assad regime after the Syrian government fell early today in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family, on Oranienplatz in Berlin
Syrians in Lebanon gather on vehicles as they head towards the Al-Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, after sixty-one years of Baath Party rule in Syria collapses on Sunday when, the capital fell out of the hands of regime control
Syrian Association in Denmark demonstrates, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, at City Hall Square, in Copenhagen, Denmark
A Danish flag can be seen amid celebrations as the Syrian Association in Denmark demonstrates, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, at City Hall Square, Copenhagen
A person tears apart a picture of Bashar Al-Assad during a demonstration celebrating the fall of his regime outside the Syrian embassy in Madrid, Spain
Two people hug during a demonstration celebrating the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime outside the Syrian embassy in Madrid, Spain
Syrian people living in Istanbul gather in Umraniye, Esenyurt and Uskudar districts to celebrate with Turkish flag and Syrian opposition’s ‘revolution flag’
Syrian people living in Istanbul gather in Umraniye, Esenyurt and Uskudar districts to celebrate after sixty-one years of Baath Party rule in Syria collapsed
Russian president Vladimir Putin meets with Assad at the Kremlin in Moscow in July
Bashar al-Assad (L) with his wife Asma al-Assad arrive at New Delhi International airport, India, 17 June 2008