In the early hours of Sunday, opposition forces declared Syria liberated from President Bashar al-Assad’s rule as opposition forces advanced into the capital.

The former president in question reportedly fled Damascus with no word yet on which country will take him in.

The stunning collapse of the Assad family’s more than 53-year rule has been described as a historic moment – nearly 14 years after Syrians rose in peaceful protests against a government that met them with violence that quickly turned into a bloody civil war.

Just a week ago, the regime remained in control of large parts of the country. How did it all unfold so quickly?

When did it start?

On November 27, a coalition of opposition fighters launched a major offensive against pro-government forces.

The first attack came on the front line between opposition-held Idlib and neighboring Aleppo governorate.

Three days later, opposition fighters captured Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city.

Who did that?

This offensive, called Operation Deterrence of Aggression, was led by several armed Syrian opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by allied Turkish-backed factions.

HTS – led by Abu Mohammed al-Julani – is the largest and best organized group, having ruled Idlib governorate for years before this offensive.

Other groups involved in the operation included the National Liberation Front, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Izza and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki movement, as well as Turkish-backed factions under the umbrella of the Syrian National Army.

Has all of Syria fallen?

Probably. Although opposition fighters did not enter the coastal governorates of Lattakia and Tartous, which are considered Assad strongholds.

The rebels advanced quickly – within days they captured Hama and Homs, a city once dubbed the “capital of the revolution” in the early years of the war.

On Saturday, Deraa – the birthplace of the 2011 uprising – also escaped government control.

The Syrian army announced it would “regroup and reposition” in the province and nearby Sweida, but this appeared to be unsuccessful.

Britain-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Syrian troops were withdrawing from positions in Quneitra, near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

Why did al-Assad fall so quickly?

Syria has struggled as its economy collapsed, reportedly sustained largely by the illegal trade in the psychoactive drug Captagon.

Al-Assad became enormously unpopular as people found it increasingly difficult to survive, including his soldiers, most of whom did not want to fight for him.

Soldiers and police reportedly abandoned their posts, surrendered their weapons and fled the opposition advance.

The Assad regime has also been weak militarily for years and relies on Russian and Iranian military support for support.

But analysts say Russia is stuck in its invasion of Ukraine and Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah has been damaged by Israeli attacks – they have failed to come to the aid of the weakening Syrian army.

Where is al-Assad?

Nobody yet knows where al-Assad is.

He and his Defense Minister Ali Abbas are both in undisclosed locations, according to Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, who told the Al Arabiya news site on Saturday evening that they had lost communication.

According to SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman, al-Assad left Syria via Damascus International Airport while it was secured by the army. Shortly afterwards, soldiers abandoned it and opposition fighters took control of it.

Has the entire government fled?

No, Prime Minister al-Jalali stayed and told the press early Sunday that he stayed to make sure everything kept going.

Are the Syrians happy?

Cries of joy erupted in Damascus, Homs and other Syrian cities as al-Assad’s withdrawal was announced.

Images from Damascus showed opposition fighters firing into the air at sunrise. People climbed onto tanks cheering amid crowds waving the flag of the revolution.

In some places, people toppled statues of al-Assad’s father Hafez.

Crowds gathered to pray together in mosques and celebrate in public squares, chanting anti-Assad slogans and honking car horns.

What happened in Sednaya Prison?

As they advance, the opposition fighters opened the regime’s prisons and released the prisoners of conscience held there.

HTS announced that its fighters had stormed the prison on the outskirts of the capital, signaling an “end to the era of tyranny at Sednaya Prison,” a facility synonymous with the Assad regime’s most notorious abuses.

SOHR confirmed that “the doors of the infamous Sednaya Prison… have been opened to thousands of prisoners who have been incarcerated by the security apparatus throughout the regime’s rule.”

What happens next?

That remains to be seen.

Analysts point out that there is great potential for Syria, but also a number of possible pitfalls if the various parties do not cooperate.

Al-Jalali said in a video statement that his cabinet was ready to “reach out” to the opposition and hand over its functions to an interim government.

“This country can be a normal country that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world… but this question lies with any leadership elected by the Syrian people,” al-Jalali said in a speech broadcast on his Facebook account.

HTS chief al-Julani said in a statement on social media that “public institutions will remain under the supervision of the prime minister until their official handover.”