CNN
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Long-suffering Syrians are cheering in the streets after one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships suddenly collapsed within weeks.

For half a century, the Assad family ruled Syria with an iron fist, with long-documented reports of mass incarceration, extrajudicial killings and atrocities against their own people.

A civil war that began during the 2011 Arab Spring devastated the country and turned it into a breeding ground for the extremist group ISIS. At the same time, it triggered an international proxy war and a refugee crisis that led to the displacement of millions of people from their homes.

On Sunday, after 13 years of civil war that splintered the country, rebel fighters declared Damakus “liberated” in a video statement on state television, sending Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fleeing to Russia.

Videos showed prisoners being freed from Assad’s notorious detention centers, rebels and civilians were seen ransacking the presidential palace, and footage revealed his luxurious lifestyle and large car collection.

Many in the country hope that Syria could finally be free, but there is great uncertainty about what comes next.

We know that.

An armed rebel alliance stormed across Syria for 11 days, sweeping through major cities and reigniting a conflict that had been largely static since 2020 ceasefire agreement.

A new rebel coalition led by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a surprise attack on November 30 and seized control of Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, a seismic move that faced little resistance from the Syrian army.

Syrian and Russian fighter jets had attacked rebels in Aleppo and Idlib, but opposition forces captured a second major city, Hama, and quickly advanced toward Homs – the gateway to the capital Damascus.

When Homs fell, rebels surrounded and invaded Damascus. They declared Assad overthrown and the city “liberated.”

An official source in Russia told CNN that the ousted president and his family fled to Moscow and received political asylum there.

The Syrian rebel coalition is a new group called the Military Operations Command. It consists of various Islamist and moderate factions who, despite their differences, are united in the fight against the Assad regime, ISIS and Iranian-backed militias.

They are led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of the militant group HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria formerly known as the al-Nusra Front.

HTS has officially severed its ties with al-Qaeda and is the de facto ruler in Idlib.

But HTS is just one of numerous armed groups operating in Syria. Other groups controlling the country’s territory include the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, elements of which Turkey considers a terrorist organization.

The United States, Turkey, the United Nations and several other Western nations continue to designate HTS a terrorist organization, and the U.S. has placed a $10 million bounty on Jolani.

In his first public comments since the rebel-led coup, Jolani declared victory for the “entire Islamic nation” on Sunday.

Syria’s armed opposition ultimately plans to form a government formed through institutions and a “popularly elected council,” Jolani told CNN.

The rebel leader has sought to soften the shadow of his extremist roots, with one commander insisting in an address on state television on Sunday that “all sects” would be protected.

But millions of Syrians, including members of Christian minorities and other religious communities, continue to suffer from the legacy of persecution at the hands of extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Assad is the second generation of an autocratic family dynasty that held power in Syria for more than five decades.

Assad, a former ophthalmologist who studied in London, took power in an unopposed election following the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who had led the Baath Party since coming to power in 1970.

Like his father, Assad tolerated little dissent and during the 13-year civil war he and his forces were accused of serious human rights abuses and brutal attacks on civilians. Starvation was reportedly used as a weapon of war, with disappearances and killings, and the deliberate bombing of civilian buildings such as schools and hospitals.

Among Assad’s worst atrocities was the sarin gas attack in the city of Ghouta in 2013, which killed more than 1,400 people and was deemed a war crime by the then UN secretary-general.

Assad’s notorious detention centers were black holes into which anyone deemed to be an opponent of the regime disappeared, and there were widespread reports of torture and inhumane conditions. A 2017 report by Amnesty International claimed that up to 13,000 people were hanged at Saydnaya Prison between 2011 and 2015.

Why did this happen and what happens next?

The rebels benefited from a weakened government whose key allies are preoccupied with other conflicts.

Russia’s bitter war in Ukraine since 2022 has sucked manpower and resources, leaving key ally Syria with few fighter jets and troops.

Iran was paralyzed as its war with Israel escalated last year. Its main proxy, Hezbollah, has been decimated by Israeli attacks and airstrikes.

Analysts told CNN that the Syrian rebels were taking advantage of a vacuum left by the group to advance in Syria.

The anti-regime coalition is now dismantling Assad’s military and laying out its vision for a post-Assad Syria.

But experts wonder whether the next phase will be a new beginning for a people strangled by a brutal autocracy – or whether sectarianism will bring a different kind of authoritarian rule.

US President Joe Biden described the fall of the Assad regime as a “historic opportunity for the long-suffering Syrian people to build a better future” but warned that it was also a moment of risk and uncertainty in the region.

Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Hossein Akbari, warned that the consequences of the collapse of the Assad regime are beyond American control and could lead to conflict between regional countries and Turkey.

The questions now focus on what a new system of government in Syria would look like, how it will work given the different groups and interests, and whether the realignment of power will only lead to further instability.

Syrians around the world are currently celebrating the stunning and unexpected political shift that has taken much of the world by surprise.