Syria's Assad flees to Russia as rebels take Damascus

Rebel fighter steps on torn photo of Syria's deposed Bashar al-Assad

(Image credit: Mohammed Al-Rifai / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

The Assad family's 54-year rule of Syria came to an abrupt end Sunday when President Bashar al-Assad fled Damascus as rebels approached. Led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Free Syrian Army raised its flag over the capital but allowed Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali to run the government during a transition period. Russian state media said Assad had arrived in Moscow and was being given asylum "on humanitarian grounds."

Who said what

The 11-day offensive that toppled Assad "is a victory for the entire Islamic nation," HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani said at Damascus' ancient Umayyad Mosque. Assad's "supposedly indomitable regime" crumbled as his "main international allies," Russia and Iran, "abandoned" him and his army refused to fight the "lightly armed rebels," The Washington Post said.

Syrians "poured onto the streets" to celebrate Assad's ouster, CNN said. President Joe Biden also celebrated his fall last night, calling it a "fundamental act of justice" for a regime that "brutalized and tortured and killed" countless "innocent Syrians," but it is also "a moment of risk and uncertainty." He said the U.S. "will not let" the Islamic State "take advantage of any vacuum" to rebuild. The U.S. struck 75 ISIS targets in Syria Sunday, to underscore Washington's resolve to combat the terrorist group and "dissuade the new regime from cooperating with them" The New York Times said, citing a senior U.S. military official.

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What next?

The rebel forces "face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a country ravaged by war and split among armed factions," including ISIS, U.S.-backed Kurds in the north and Turkish-backed militants fighting the Kurds, The Associated Press said. "With 25,000 fighters," The Wall Street Journal said, the HTS rebels "don't appear to have the personnel to govern the vast territories it has gained in recent days."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.