People Celebrate after Bashar al-Assad Rule Ended in Syria
Beirut: The 50-year rule of the Assad family came to an unexpected end in the early hours of Sunday with the fall of the government amidst the entry of rebels into the Syrian capital Damascus and claims of President Bashar-al-Assad fleeing the country. After this people took to the streets and celebrated. Syrian state television channel has broadcast a video statement of a group of people in which they are seen saying that President Bashar Assad has been ousted from power and all the prisoners in jail have been released.
Assad has left the capital
Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told The Associated Press that Assad took off from Damascus early Sunday. Residents of the capital have heard sounds of gunfire and explosions. Iran’s state television channel, which has been a main supporter of Assad during the war in Syria, reported that Assad had left the capital. The television channel cited Qatar’s ‘Al Jazeera News Network’ for this information but did not give any detailed information.
people gathered to celebrate
Crowds of Syrians gathered in Damascus squares on Sunday morning to celebrate, chanting anti-Assad slogans and honking car horns. Bullets were also fired in celebration in some areas. Soldiers and police officers fled their posts and the rebels entered the Defense Ministry headquarters.
People Celebrate after Bashar al-Assad Rule Ended in Syria
What did the local residents say?
“I can’t express my feelings,” said lawyer Omar Daher, 29, a local resident. I cannot believe the fear in which he (Assad) and his father forced us to live for many years and the state of terror and terror in which I was living.” Daher said that his father was given security. His brother was killed and detained by the forces and it is not known what happened to him. He said Assad was “a criminal, a dictator and an animal.” Ghazal al-Sharif, another man in central Damascus, said: “Shame on the president and the entire Assad family.”
Police headquarters appeared empty
An Associated Press (AP) journalist in Damascus said he saw groups of armed residents on the roadside on the outskirts of the capital and heard gunfire. The city’s main police headquarters appeared to be empty, with its door open and no officers outside. Another AP journalist took footage of an abandoned army post in which uniforms were seen lying on the ground beneath Assad’s poster. Sounds of “Allah-hu-Akbar” are being heard from the mosques. This is the first time since 2018 that rebels reached inside Damascus.
People Celebrate after Bashar al-Assad Rule Ended in Syria
Those close to Assad government kept distance
Syrian troops recaptured the outskirts of the capital in 2018 after years of siege. Pro-government Sham FM radio said Damascus airport had been evacuated and all flights had been halted. The rebels also announced that they had entered the Saidnaya military prison, north of the capital, and freed prisoners. Meanwhile, organizations that were previously close to the Assad government attempted to distance themselves from them.
Media personnel are not at fault
“We are witnessing the beginning of a new chapter for Syria,” wrote the pro-government newspaper Al-Watan. We thank Allah that they did not shed more blood. We believe and we trust that Syria will be for all Syrians.” The newspaper also said that media personnel should not be blamed for publishing government statements in the past. “We just followed the instructions and published the news they sent us,” she said. It soon became clear that this was a lie.”
People Celebrate after Bashar al-Assad Rule Ended in Syria
Prices have increased
A local resident told The Associated Press that many shops in the capital were closed and those that were open had also run out of essential items like sugar. Some shopkeepers are selling goods at thrice the normal price. The United Nations said it was sending its non-critical staff out of the country as a precaution. Meanwhile, America’s newly elected President Donald Trump said on Saturday that America should avoid military action in Syria. “This is not our fight,” he said in a post on social media.
Also know
The rebel offensive in Syria began on November 27 when gunmen captured Aleppo, Syria’s largest northern city, and Hama, the country’s fourth-largest city. Nearly half a million people have been killed in the Syrian civil war and half the country’s population has been displaced. As the rebellion turned into civil war, millions of Syrians fled across the border to Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon, and to Europe. (AP)
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