The 24-year rule of Bashar al-Assad has apparently come to an end after rebel forces entered the capital Damascus.
Videos have been posted online of Syrians apparently toppling statues from the Bashar al-Assad regime after rebels declared the country free of the family that has ruled it for the last 50 years.
Rebel troops have declared the capital city « free » of longtime ruleras government forces withdrew, with Assad fleeing the country via plane on Sunday morning. Syria’s army command has now notified officers that his 24-year rule has ended, an officer informed of the move told Reuters.
There have been widespread celebrations in recent days in Syria, with one video posted on X, formerly Twitter, by German news outlet DW News showing people in the city of Hama toppling a statue of Hafez al-Assad, former ruler and father of Bashar. The decapitated head of the statue is then seen in another clip being dragged along the road by a vehicle.
Other images from Hama show a man spraying bullets at a large banner hanging on the facade of a municipal building bearing the image of the deposed ruler.
Another clip, posted by Documenting Oppression Against Muslims, shows Syrian opposition fighters in an unknown location playing football with the head of a statue of Hafez al-Assad.
