The Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad appears to have been toppled after rebel fighters claimed they had entered the capital Damascus following a stunning push

A Syrian opposition war monitor reported that President Bashar al-Assad had left the country.

It was a lightning-quick advance, as the government was overthrown just days after the army first broke through Aleppo lines.

A night before the invasion of Damascus, the rebels had captured the central city of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, as government troops abandoned them.

The lightning offensive

The sheer speed of the rebel offensive surprised everyone. In just 24 hours, up to four cities fell out of the control of the Assad government. These cities were Daraa, Quneitra, Suwayda and Homs.

The Turkish-backed organization Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) broke through Aleppo’s defenses for the first time last week, achieving a major breakthrough after a stalemate that had gripped the war-torn country for years. Although it was shocking, no one expected it to open the floodgates and achieve what the opposition in Syria has been trying to achieve since the civil war erupted in 2011 and the fall of the Assad regime.

But the fall of Aleppo did just that, and town after town fell into rebel hands on the road to Damascus.

Early Sunday, rebels took over Sednaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus to free all prisoners. This was probably the signal that the Assad family’s five-decade rule was finally coming to an end.

It was the first time opposition forces had reached Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured areas on the outskirts of the capital after a years-long siege.

This time, however, Damascus has apparently fallen and Bashar al-Assad is nowhere to be seen. Reports suggest he may have fled the country.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Assad took a flight from Damascus and departed early Sunday. There was no immediate official statement from the Syrian government.

HTS issued a statement saying it had liberated Damascus from Assad, while also ordering its fighters not to cause damage to public buildings in the city, which are for now under the control of former Prime Minister Ghazi al-Jalali.

Jalali issued a statement earlier in the day saying the government was ready to shake hands with the opposition and hand over the government.

The rapidly developing events have shaken the region. Lebanon said it would close all border crossings on its land border with Syria, except for one crossing connecting Beirut with Damascus. Jordan has also closed a border crossing with Syria.