Syrian rebels claim Assad toppled, seize Damascus

Syrian rebels announced the liberation of Damascus and the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in a brief statement on state television.

Nine individuals appeared on Syrian state television, one of whom delivered what he said was statement number one from the “Fatah Damascus Operations Room.”

"The city of Damascus has been liberated, the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been toppled, and all the unjustly detained persons from the regime’s prisons have been released," says one member from the Syria rebels.

Syria's army command notified officers that Assad's regime had ended, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move said.

Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination, two senior army officers said, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.

The dramatic collapse marks a seismic moment for the Middle East, ending the family's iron-fisted rule over Syria and dealing a massive blow to Russia and Iran, which have lost a key ally at the heart of the region.

The leader of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate, said in a video message that the rebels are "in the final moments of liberating" Syria's central city of Homs.

Since the rebels' sweep into Aleppo a week ago, government defenses have crumbled at dizzying speed as rebels seized a string of major cities and reignited a rebellion in places it had long seemed dead.

The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is believed to have fled the country his family has ruled over for 50 years as rebels said they had captured the capital after a lightning advance completed in just under two weeks.

Two senior Syrian officers said that Assad had fled Damascus, his destination unknown.

The Syrian leader had been publicly absent as Islamist militant insurgents spearheaded a sweeping offensive that began in a small enclave in north-western Syria, and within 11 days appeared to have toppled Assad’s rule.