Syria latest: Syrians celebrate Bashar Assad's fall as his whereabouts remain unknown

Crowds gathered in Syria's Damascus on Sunday to celebrate the fall of Bashar Assad’s government with chants, prayers and the occasional gunfire after opposition fighters entered the capital following a stunning advance.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian opposition war monitor, said Assad took a flight from Damascus and left early Sunday. There was no immediate official statement from the Syrian government and Assad's whereabouts remain unknown.

It was the first time opposition forces had reached Damascus since 2018 when Syrian troops recaptured areas on the outskirts of the capital following a yearslong siege.

The night before, opposition forces had taken the central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as government forces abandoned it.

The rapidly developing events have shaken the region. Lebanon said it was closing all its land border crossings with Syria except for one that links Beirut with Damascus. Jordan closed a border crossing with Syria, too.

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Netanyahu says Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights after Syrian unrest

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria.

He spoke on Sunday after a lightning rebel advance ended Syrian President Bashar Assad’s rule.

Netanyahu said the decades-old agreement had collapsed and that Syrian troops had abandoned their positions, necessitating the Israeli takeover.

Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it. The international community, except for the United States, views it as occupied Syrian territory.

Syrians cross over from Lebanon, facing an uncertain future but hopeful for change

MASNAA, Lebanon — At Lebanon’s Masnaa crossing into Syria, the mood was festive Sunday with some local Lebanese residents handing out congratulatory sweets to Syrians lined up to return to their country.

Sami Abdel-Latif, a refugee from Hama who was heading to Syria to join his wife and four children, said while the future in Syria is still uncertain, “anything is better than Bashar.” He said he expected some chaos initially but that eventually the situation would settle down.

“Look at Aleppo now,” he said, referring to the first major city taken over by opposition forces more than a week ago, where life has continued more or less as normal. Abdel-Latif, a construction worker, said he is also hoping that there will now be plentiful work in Syria to rebuild.

Malak Matar, who was preparing to return to Damascus, said, “This is a feeling we’ve been waiting 14 years for.

“You feel yourself psychologically free - you can express yourself,” he said. “The country is free and the barriers have been broken down.”

Now, he said, “Syrians have to create a state that is well-organized and take care of their country. It’s a new phase.”

Egyptians express mixed feelings over collapse of Assad's government

CAIRO — Egyptians expressed mixed feelings following the downfall of Syria's Bashar Assad.

Many welcomed Assad’s ouster after decades of repression under his rule and that of his father Hafez Assad. Others, however, expressed concerns about the future of Syria, mostly given the extremist past of rebel commanders, especially Abu Mohammed al-Golani who leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, labeled a terrorist by the United States.

“It’s good news for Syrians,” Adel Salah, a retired school teacher, said while following a news TV channel in a Cairo coffee shop. “But there is a big question: the future of the country.”

Saeed Sawy, an engineer, painted a rather grim picture. He said it’s likely that these rebel groups, with their differences and competing alliances, will engage in infighting over the country’s future.

“We saw this happen before. We saw this in Libya, in Tunisia, in Yemen and Sudan. People rejoice over the fall of tyrants, then they disagree and fight, and a civil war starts,” he said.

EU top diplomat welcomes Bashar Assad's ouster

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top diplomat welcomed the fall of Bashar Assad and said that the collapse of his rule underlines how weak his supporters in Moscow and Tehran have become.

“The end of Assad’s dictatorship is a positive and long-awaited development,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas posted on X.

“Our priority is to ensure security in the region. I will work with all the constructive partners, in Syria and the region,” said Kallas, who took over as the 27-nation bloc’s top diplomat last week.

German Chancellor calls for speedy return of order in Syria

BERLIN — Reacting to the fall of Bashir Assad’s government, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday that “what matters now is that law and order are quickly restored in Syria.”

“The Syrian people have experienced appalling suffering,” the chancellor said in an emailed statement. “The end of Assad’s rule over Syria is therefore good news.”

He stressed that “all religious communities, all minorities must enjoy protection now and in the future.”

“We will judge the future rulers by whether they make it possible for all Syrians to live in dignity and self-determination, defend Syria’s sovereignty against malicious interference by third parties and live in peace with their neighbors,” Scholz added.

Airstrikes reported in the area of the Mezzeh military airport

DAMASCUS, Syria — An Associated Press journalist in Damascus reported airstrikes in the area of the Mezzeh military airport, southwest of the capital Sunday.

The airport has previously been targeted in Israeli airstrikes, but it was not immediately clear who launched Sunday's strike.

The Israeli military refused to comment on the airport strike.

Israel often does not publicly claim responsibility for attacks in Syria.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Israeli military sent additional troops to the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights to bolster Israel’s presence along the border between Israel and Syria. Agricultural areas along the border were declared closed military zones and some schools shifted to online classes in anticipation of unrest.

China hopes for stability soon in Syria

BEIJING — China said it was closely monitoring the situation in Syria and that it hoped stability would return as soon as possible, according to a statement published Sunday on the Foreign Ministry’s website.

Beijing said it has been helping Chinese nationals who wish to leave Syria to do so in a safe manner and that it remained in contact with those still in the country.

“We urge relevant parties in Syria to ensure the safety and security of the Chinese institutions and personnel in Syria,” the statement read. “The Chinese Embassy is still up and running and carrying out its duty in Syria. We will continue to make every possible assistance to Chinese nationals in need.”

Opposition forces announce curfew in Damascus

BEIRUT — The command of the Syrian armed opposition says it will impose Sunday a curfew in Damascus, starting at 4 p.m. local time till 5 a.m. on Monday.

The Military Operations Administration, which posted the decision on Telegram, did not give a reason for the curfew.

Russia claims Assad left Syria after giving instructions to transfer power peacefully

MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry claimed Sunday that Bashar Assad had left Syria after negotiations with rebel groups, and gave “instructions” to “transfer power peacefully.”

In a post on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday, the ministry said Moscow had not directly participated in these talks. It also said it has been following the “dramatic events” in Syria “with extreme concern."

It also said Russian troops stationed in Syria have been put on high alert and that as of early afternoon Sunday, there was “no serious threat” to the security of Russia’s military bases there.

Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Assad’s government to fight armed opposition groups and reclaim control over most of the country.

While Russia now concentrates the bulk of its military resources in Ukraine, it has maintained a military foothold in Syria and keeps troops at its bases there.

Turkey-backed forces are about to wrest control of city from a U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led force

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkish security officials said Sunday that Turkey-backed opposition forces were close to wresting control of the city of Manbij from a U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led force.

The opposition group, known as the Syrian National Army, SNA, was now in control of 80% of Manbij, after pushing back against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, the YPG, the officials said. They provided the information on condition of anonymity due to regulations.

Last week, the Turkish-backed force similarly expelled YPG fighters from the city of Tal Rifaat.

The Syrian Kurdish militia group is a key U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. Turkey however, considers the YPG to be a terrorist organization due to its link to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey.

Turkey has conducted several incursions into Syria since 2016 to push the YPG away from its borders with Syria.

France welcomes the fall of Bashar Assad

PARIS — The French Foreign Affairs ministry said France “welcomes” the fall of Bashar Assad’s government “after more than 13 years of violent repression against its own people.”

The ministry said in a statement: “The Syrian people have suffered too much. Bashar Assad has bled dry country, emptied of a large part of its people who, if not forced into exile, have been massacred, tortured and bombarded with chemical weapons by the regime and its allies.”

France also called for a peaceful political transition that respects the diversity of the Syrian people and protects civilians and minorities and on its international partners to help the Syrian people move towards “reconciliation and reconstruction,” saying France is ready to “play its full part” in the process.

UN envoy for Syria expresses hope but warns of immense challenges

DOHA, Qatar — The U.N. envoy for Syria says the ouster of President Bashar Assad has created an opportunity to address the country’s deep problems and create a brighter future after years of conflict. But he says “immense” challenges remain.

Geir Pederson told reporters that the changes in Syria now raise hope for millions of refugees, internally displaced, political prisoners and families whose loved ones have disappeared.

“Today we look forward to the cautious hope for the opening of a new time for the peace, reconciliation, dignity and inclusion of all Syrians,” he said.

He said the U.N. was closely monitoring the situation on the ground and urging all groups to avoid violence, protect civilians and respect human rights.

“Let me stress that there must be a collective effort to secure peace and dignity for all, and that I stand ready to support the Syrian people in their journey toward a stable and inclusive future, decided and shaped by the Syrian people themselves,” Pederson said at the Doha Summit.

He said he did not know where Assad has fled to and declined to say whether the former president should be prosecuted for war crimes.

Pederson said international efforts should focus now on a stable and peaceful transition before addressing deeper questions like justice for Assad.

“First things first,” he said.

Turkish foreign minister calls on world to help stabilize Syria

BEIRUT — Hakan Fidan said Sunday that “Syria has reached a stage where the Syrian people will shape the future of their own country,” calling on the international community to support Syrians.

Fidan is attending the Qatari diplomatic forum that started late Saturday and is hosting eight countries with an interest in Syria, including the U.S. and Iran.

“The new administration must be established in an orderly manner. The principle of inclusiveness must never be compromised," the Turkish foreign minister told reporters. "There must never be a desire for revenge. It is time to unite and reconstruct the country.”

When asked where Bashar Assad was, he said: “I cannot say for sure.” Hakan Fidan, adding, “he is somewhere, but I cannot comment on that” and that he was “probably outside of Syria.”

Fidan, who on Saturday met with his counterparts from Russia and Iran, the main backers of the Assad regime, said regional and global powers should try “to act with prudence and calm and to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the region.”

Turkey has been in contact with Syrian opposition factions to ensure terrorist groups do not take advantage of the situation, Fidan added, referring to the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants. He also stressed that any chemical weapon stockpiles should be secured.

Fidan also addressed the rapid advance of rebel fighters across Syria, saying it was helped by the “slow decay and collapse” of a regime that did not tackle the country’s problems.

Trump says Russia and Iran are in a weakened state

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social Sunday, saying that Assad" has fled his country. His protector, Russia ... led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer."

He also wrote that Russia “lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead."

He added that “Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success.”

German foreign minister warns Syria must not fall into the hands of radicals

BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed understanding for the relief Syrian people felt after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government, but warned that “the country must not now fall into the hands of other radicals.”

“Several hundred thousand Syrians have been killed in the civil war, millions have fled,” Baerbock said in a statement emailed by her office Sunday. “Assad has murdered, tortured and used poison gas against his own people. He must finally be held accountable for this.”

Baerbock also called “on the parties to the conflict to live up to their responsibility for all Syrians.”

“This includes the comprehensive protection of ethnic and religious minorities such as Kurds, Alawites or Christians and an inclusive political process that creates a balance between the groups,” the German foreign minister said.

Syrian refugees in Beirut say they want to go home

BEIRUT — Syrian refugees in Beirut rejoice Assad’s downfall on Sunday, with some saying they are considering returning to Syria.

“After all these years of suffering, God granted us relief,” Hilal Youssef, a Syrian from Hama, said on Sunday. “We will go back to Syria with pride and joy. We got rid of this army. We got rid of the injustice that we lived before and freed Syria. Now we can go there anytime we want.”

“For sure we want to go back,” said Bilal al Khleif, also from Hama. Refugees will return “to Hama, to Damascus, to Idlib and all areas and chant ‘Freedom,’” he said.

Syrian state TV briefly resumes programs and hosts a rebel commander

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian state TV briefly continued its programs, with an anchorman calling on all employees at the station to return to work adding that they are safe.

“This is Damascus, the capital of Syria where the gates of freedom have opened for the first time in many years. This is a historic day in Syria’s modern history” the anchorman said Sunday morning.

He later hosted Anas Salkhadi, a rebel commander among the fighters who stormed the capital. Salkhadi said that the rebels would protect state institutions.

“Our message to all the sects of Syria is that we tell them that Syria is for everyone,” Salkhadi said. “We will not do what Assad family did,” he said.

As Salkhadi spoke, the sound was cut and the broadcast suddenly stopped. A red banner then appeared on screen with writing in Arabic that said: “The victory of the great Syrian revolution and the fall of Assad’s criminal regime.”

Syrians in Berlin celebrate the downfall of Assad's government

BERLIN — Hundreds of Syrians took to the streets to celebrate the fall of Bashar Assad’s government.

Some cheered and rejoiced in front of a Syrian bakery on the German capital’s Sonnenallee boulevard in the neighborhood of Neukoelln, famous for its many Arabic stores, restaurants and coffee shops.

People were waving flags emblazoned with “Free Syria” while others flocked in motorcades, German news agency dpa reported.

Many, originally from Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, live in Neukoelln.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled the civil war in their home country and reached Germany by crossing the Mediterranean on flimsy rubber boats and trekking up the Balkan, often for days and weeks by foot.

Qatari official says renewed mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas still in early stages

DOHA, Qatar — Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, said the revived efforts to push for a ceasefire between the two sides were still in the early stages despite e new “momentum."

Qatar recently renewed its role as mediator after suspending efforts last month in frustration over what it said was a lack of willingness by the sides to make progress.

Al-Ansari said his government has been only engaging with the individual sides. However, he said he hoped to see mediation kick into gear in a “more detailed manner” by next week.

Al-Ansari said while it was still too early to provide details on postwar Gaza, his government has had discussions about its general position.

He said there needs to be a “Palestinian decision” on who will govern, with the West Bank and Gaza under a unified leadership.

He also said Qatar, which played a big role in rebuilding Gaza after previous conflicts, would be open to joining a broader reconstruction effort if political conditions allow.

“We will support any international effort when it comes to rebuilding,” he added. “We will not abandon the Palestinian people. We will not abandon the people of Gaza. But this time, it needs to be an international effort.”

“The whole international community should be supportive of whatever governance model is chosen by the Palestinian people,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum.

Video shows Syrian prime minister escorted by armed men

DAMASCUS, Syria — A video shared on Syrian opposition media showed a group of armed men escorting Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali out of his office and to the Four Seasons hotel on Sunday.

Syrians in Lebanon flock to border crossing

Masnaa, Lebanon — Syrians have crowded the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing Sunday waiting to cross back into Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad.

Lebanon’s General Security closed the crossing overnight but reopened it in the morning, allowing Syrians to freely cross out of Lebanon while restricting their entry from Syria into the country.

Lebanese officials have long complained about the country’s population of refugees — the largest per capita in the world. As of Sept. 30, some 768,353 Syrian refugees were registered with the U.N. refugee agency in Lebanon, with hundreds of thousands more believed to be unregistered.

Many fled Lebanon after the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in late September, but others crossed back from Syria into Lebanon in recent days as insurgents marched toward Damascus.

With Syrian officials having abandoned the Syrian side of the border, an Associated Press photographer who crossed from Lebanon into Syria said he saw some people taking the opportunity to loot the duty-free store between the two borders.

Qatari official says there is regional consensus on engaging all parties in Syria

DOHA, Qatar — Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman and adviser to the prime minister, Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, says participants of the emergency meeting of foreign ministers and top officials from eight countries with interests in Syria, agreed on the need “to engage all parties on the ground and be inclusive in our engagement.”

The late Saturday meeting, hosted by Qatar, included Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.

Al-Ansari also said that would include the HTS, the main rebel group that has taken control of Damascus, branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. and United Nations.

He said the meeting participants were caught off guard by how quickly Assad was toppled and that the Syrian leader had not reached out to Qatar, but had spoken to other countries in the region in his final days. He said he did not know where Assad was.

Al-Ansari said the international community must now work together to create conditions where all Syrians can live in peace, regardless of their religious or ethnic group.

The main concern is “stability and safe transition,” he said. “No one group or party should feel unsafe in a future Syria.”

Al-Ansari spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum.

American military presence will continue in eastern Syria

MANAMA, Bahrain — Daniel B. Shapiro, a deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, said the U.S. presence was “solely to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and has nothing to do with other aspects of this conflict,” he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.

“We call on all parties in Syria to protect civilians, particularly those from Syria’s minority communities, to respect international humanitarian norms and to work to achieve a resolution through an inclusive political settlement,” Shapiro said.

“Multiple actors in this conflict have a terrible track record to include Assad’s horrific crimes, Russia’s indiscriminate aerial bomb bombardment, Iranian-back militia involvement and the atrocities of ISIS.”

Shapiro, however, was careful not to directly say Assad had been deposed by the insurgents.

“If confirmed no one should shed any tears over the Assad regime,” he added.

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Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Manama, Bahrain, contributed to this report.

Syrians celebrate in the heart of Damascus and storm presidential palace

Brimming with excitement, people flocked to Ummayed Square in the heart of the Syrian capital to mark the fall of Bashar Assad's government.

The square houses the building of the Ministry of Defense.

Men on the streets and some riding in the back of pickup trucks fired celebratory shots, as plumes of smoke could be seen in the distance. Some waved the green flag that represented Syria’s uprising against the Assad dynasty, the first such instance in well over a decade before the mass protests spiraled into civil war.

A few kilometers (miles) away, Syrians stormed the presidential palace, taking down portraits of Assad from the palace's guest quarters where the fallen president hosted heads of state.

Yemeni government minister hails Assad’s fall as a blow to Iran

CAIRO — Moammar al-Eryani, Information Minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, said Iran’s “expansionist project, which used sectarian militias as tools to complete the Persian Crescent, sow chaos, undermine the sovereignty of states ... is collapsing" as rebel groups took over the Syrian capital, Damascus.

He also expressed hope that Yemenis would drive out the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north in 2014.

“The Yemenis, with their wisdom and steadfastness, are able to thwart the plans of Iran and its Houthi tool to violate their land and tamper with their destiny, just as those plans failed in Syria and Lebanon,” he wrote social media platform X.

Senior Emirati diplomat declines to answer if Bashar Assad was heading to UAE

MANAMA, Bahrain — Anwar Gargash faced a series of direct questions over Syria, particularly as the UAE in recent years had sought to rehabilitate Assad’s image in the Arab world.

Asked if Assad was heading to the UAE, Gargash said: “When people ask where is Bashar al-Assad going to, I say, you know, when you really look at this, this is really at the end of the day a footnote in history. I’m reminded a little bit by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918 when he went into a long exile.”

He added: “But I don’t think when you look at that period, this is really critical.”

Gargash later refused to answer when repeatedly pressed by journalists on whether his answer was an acknowledgment that Assad was in the UAE.

There has been speculation Assad could flee to the oil-rich, where his extended family is known to own properties in Dubai. Flight-tracking data showed private jets moving between Damascus, Syria, and the UAE on Saturday.

Gargash spoke Sunday at the International Institute of Strategic Studies’ Manama Dialogue in Bahrain.