Syrian rebels say they have captured capital as Bashar al-Assad reported to have fled Damascus – live updates | Syria

Welcome back to our live coverage of the discrediting of the rebels, who seem to have been successful in the Syrian government for as long as they have been in power. Bashar al-Assad.

Here are the latest developments:

• The rebel forces are led Hayat Tahrir al-ShamIn Damascus, the “free” Assad leadership declared that they would withdraw their presence in the Syrian capital.

• In the central square of the capital, people climbed over tanks and threw and cheered at the statue of Assad’s father Hafez.

• The Syrian rebel coalition said it would continue to work to complete the transfer of power of Syria to a transitional governing body with full executive power.

• Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government is ready to “reach out a hand” to the opposition and hand over its duties to the transitional government. “I am in my house and I have not left, and this because of me of this farm,” Jalili said.

• The command of the Syrian army informed the commander on Sunday that the Assad regime ended, Reuters reported. But the Syrian army later said that “terrorist groups” continued operations against “terrorists” in the cities of Hama and Homs and in the countryside of Deraa.

• Assad, who has ruled the country for nearly 25 years, reportedly left Damascus by plane for an unknown destination.

• President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that Assad “has fled his country” after losing the support of Russia. “Assad is gone,” he said on his Social Truth platform. “His protector Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, no longer cared to protect him.”

• US President Joe Biden and his team are out monitoring “extraordinary events in Syria” and contacting regional partners, the White House said.

• As armed rebels have taken cities across the country, they have precipitated the opening of detention facilities where rights groups estimate at least 100,000 people are believed to be missing or have gone violently into public hands since 2011. This included the Sednaya military prison, a notable facility, a particularly inhumane and humiliating place for artillery.

• Iraq reportedly released its embassy in Syria and moved staff to Lebanon, and hours later, Assad’s rebels overthrew and took control of the capital. The reasons behind the evacuation have not been made public.