Opposition forces declare Syria free of Assad's rule as the president reportedly flees the country.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is said to have fled Damascus for an unknown destination as opposition fighters entered the capital and people took to the streets and public squares to celebrate.
The fighters have entered the heart of Damascus and declared a “new era” free of revenge, inviting Syrians abroad to return.
Hadi al-Bahra, who heads the Syrian political opposition coalition abroad, declared Damascus “free of al-Assad” and congratulated the Syrian people.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali says he remains at home, ready to cooperate with the opposition and wants to ensure public institutions continue to function.
At the same time, Abu Mohamed al-Julani, head of the main Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighting group, has ordered opposition fighters not to attack any public institutions or services.
Celebrations of freedom
Witnesses report joy in Damascus, with chants of “Freedom! Freedom!” as Syrians celebrate the end of more than 50 years of rule by Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez before him.
The fighters freed prisoners held in Sednaya prison north of Damascus, as they have done in other cities they have taken during their lightning advance over the past 10 or so days.
Soldiers reportedly dropped their weapons in the face of advancing rebel fighters, and early on Sunday morning, army command confirmed that al-Assad's rule had ended, Reuters reported.
The same scenes of celebration had been seen just hours earlier when fighters entered and took control of the city of Homs, a two-hour drive north of Damascus, with little or no resistance.
Homs' strategic location meant that once rebel fighters controlled it, they severed the connection between the capital and al-Assad's coastal strongholds in Lattakia and Tartus.
