BEIRUT: The head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said early on Sunday that Syria’s President Bashar Assad left the country for an undisclosed location.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told media that Assad took a flight from Damascus early on Sunday.
Abdurrahman’s comments came shortly after Syrian insurgents said they had entered Damascus, capping a stunning advance across the country, as residents of the capital reported sounds of gunfire and explosions.
Footage broadcast on opposition-linked media showed a tank in one of the capital’s central squares while a small group of people gathered in celebration. Calls of “God is great” rang out from mosques.
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 years-long siege.
There was no immediate statement from the Syrian government. The pro-government Sham FM radio reported that the Damascus airport had been evacuated and all flights halted.
The insurgents also announced they had entered the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital and “liberated” their prisoners there.
The night before, opposition forces took the central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as government forces abandoned it. The city stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.
Sham FM reported that government forces took positions outside Homs without elaborating.