Syrian rebels took control of the capital and seized the presidential palace in Damascus after a swift offensive that sent crowds into the streets to celebrate the end of the al-Assad family’s 53-year rule.
State TV on Sunday broadcast a video statement from a men’s group saying President Bashar al-Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been released.
One of the men reading the statement said the opposition group, known as the Damascus Conquest Operation Room, called on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve the institutions of the “free Syrian state.”
The opposition said al-Assad had left Damascus. His whereabouts are still unknown.
Syria’s war broke out in 2011 with an uprising against al-Assad’s rule and quickly transformed into a full-blown conflict that has drawn in foreign powers. One of the world’s largest refugee crises has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.
