Syrian rebels claim Damascus ‘liberated’ as Assad regime’s defenses crumble

(CNN) — Syrian rebels have declared the capital Damascus “liberated” after entering the city to scant resistance from regime forces, while claiming President Bashar al-Assad has fled the capital, losing his decades-long grip on power.

“Damascus has been liberated and the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown, and oppressed prisoners in regime prisons have been released,” a spokesperson said, reading from a statement on state television on Sunday, surrounded by roughly a dozen other rebels.

“We ask people and fighters to protect all property in Free Syria… long live Syria free for all Syrians of all sects,” he added.

The removal of Assad – who has not been heard from since the rebels’ claim – would bring an end to more than 50 years of his family’s autocratic rule of the nation of about 23 million, which has been buffeted and fractured by more than a decade of civil war.

Celebratory gunfire was heard in Damascus, as word spread of Assad fleeing the capital. Footage shared on social media and verified by CNN showed similar scenes in Aleppo, which fell to the rebels just over a week ago as they launched a surprise lightning offensive which has since swept several major cities.

The sheer speed of the rebel advance has caught much of the world off guard and brought about a stunning reordering of power in a Middle Eastern nation that has long been at the crossroads of a regional power struggle. Both Iran and Russia were supporters of the Assad regime and helped keep him in power during a grueling civil war that sparked one of the world’s largest recent refugee crises.

The potential toppling of the Iran-backed Assad would follow the decimation of key Tehran proxies Hezbollah and Hamas in conflicts with Israel over the past 14 months. One US official told CNN that developments in Damascus marked the collapse of “Iran’s artifice” across the Middle East.

National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett wrote on X that US President Joe Biden and his advisers were “closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners.”

‘Ready to cooperate’

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said the government stood ready “to cooperate with any leadership the people choose,” in a recorded message on Sunday morning.

“We are ready to cooperate with any leadership the people choose, offering all possible support to ensure a smooth and systematic transition of government functions, preserving state facilities,” he said.

Jalali also called on Syrians to protect public facilities, saying they belonged to all citizens.

The militant leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the main group driving the country’s armed opposition, released a statement calling on rebel forces to leave state institutions unharmed.

“To all military forces in the city of Damascus, it is strictly forbidden to approach public institutions, which will remain under the supervision of the former Prime Minister until they are officially handed over, and it is also forbidden to fire bullets into the air,” Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, wrote on Telegram.

The rebels earlier claimed to have taken control of the notorious Saydnaya Military Prison north of Damascus.

By early Sunday morning, a source familiar with the rebels’ advance told CNN: “Militarily, Damascus has fallen.”

Hours before, HTS said it had “fully liberated” the major city of Homs, north of the capital. Syrians were seen tearing down and setting fire to posters of Assad after rebels had entered the city, in scenes reminiscent of pro-democracy protests in the city during the Arab Spring more than a decade ago.

Observers said Homs was of huge strategic importance to the rebels, as its capture effectively split the Assad regime in two, severing the government in Damascus from the coast. But by Sunday morning, it was not clear there was even a functioning regime left to speak of.

The rebels’ progress has been stunning. After bursting out of their territory in the northwestern Idlib province, HTS captured Aleppo and Hama in just over a week of fighting. After they were joined Friday by a fresh uprising in the southern Daraa province, both groups set their sights on Damascus.

“We were able to liberate four Syrian cities within 24 hours: Daraa, Quneitra, Suwayda and Homs,” said Lt. Col. Hassan Abdul Ghani, a spokesperson for the main rebel group, ahead of their entry to Damascus.

It had been expected that the regime would mount a firmer defense of Damascus, but the rebels said that senior Assad regime officials were preparing to defect to them in the capital.

Although the official line from the Syrian president’s office is that Assad has not fled, a source with knowledge of the situation told CNN that Assad is nowhere to be found in Damascus.

Echoes of earlier protests

After regime forces quit Homs, residents began to flood the streets in celebration. Videos geolocated by CNN showed residents tearing apart posters of Assad and his father on top of the gates to the Officers’ Club in the city center.

The scenes recall one of the most symbolic images from the Arab Spring in Syria in 2011, when pro-democracy protesters took to the streets and tore down Assad posters on top of the same gates.

Protests in 2011 calling for Assad’s ouster sparked Syria’s deadly civil war, that has created an armed resistance to the government supported in various ways by foreign powers including neighboring Turkey, regional giants Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the United States.

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CNN’s Alex Marquardt, Sam Fossum, Lucas Lilieholm, Manveena Suri and James Legge contributed to this report.