The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule over the Arab country after the militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stormed and captured the capital Damascus.
In a statement on Sunday morning, the HTS militants declared that they had captured the capital, confirming reports of the fall of the Assad government.
Earlier in the day, Reuters quoted an unnamed officer as saying that the Syrian army command notified officers that the Assad government had fallen.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali expressed the government’s readiness to “extend its hand” to the militants and hand over its functions to a transitional government.
“I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” he said in a video statement.
He also noted that he would go to his office to continue work in the morning, calling on Syrian citizens not to deface public property.
Foreign-backed militants, led by the HTS, waged a surprise two-pronged attack on Syria’s Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib on November 27.
Soon afterward, they captured several Syrian cities, including Hama, Homs, Dara’a, Suwayda, and Damascus.
HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani called on militants to leave state institutions unharmed.
“To all military forces in the city of Damascus, it is strictly forbidden to approach public institutions, which will remain under the supervision of the former Prime Minister until they are officially handed over, and it is also forbidden to fire bullets into the air,” he said in a statement released on Telegram.
HTS declares fall of Assad government
In their statement, the HTS militant group, which called itself the Syrian National Transitional Council, announced the toppling of the Assad government.
It further vowed to “preserve the unity and sovereignty of Syrian territory, … protect all citizens and their property, regardless of their affiliations,” and “achieve comprehensive national reconciliation.”
Syrian state television aired a video statement by a group of militants saying that President Assad has been overthrown and all prisoners have been released.
“The city of Damascus has been liberated,” said one of the militants who read the statement.
“All the prisoners have been released from the prison of Damascus. We wish all our fighters and citizens preserve and maintain the property of the state of Syria. Long live Syria.”
‘Power transfer to take place in cooperation with UN’
Head of the Syrian National Coalition, Hadi al-Bahra, said, “The situation is safe, and there is no room for revenge or retaliation.”
“Government institutions will resume operations within two days” and that the “transfer of power will take place in cooperation with the United Nations,” he told Al-Arabiya.
