Opposition forces took Damascus early on Sunday, ending the al-Assad family’s 50-year reign in a surprise offensive that reached the capital in only 12 days.
The offensive began on November 27, when opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched an assault from their base in the Idlib governorate in northwestern Syria and then rolled on southwards to unseat Bashar al-Assad.
Here is how the last two days of fighting unfolded.
December 7: Closing in on the capital
Deraa awakens: On Saturday, opposition forces captured most of the southern Syrian region of Deraa – the birthplace of the 2011 uprising.
People also took matters into their own hands and joined the fight, then marched north with the fighters, according to political analyst and activist Nour Adeh.
#Syria: the town of Ghabaghib in northern #Daraa following its liberation from the #Assad regime.
This is the final town in Daraa o be confirmed to be free of the regime. pic.twitter.com/EvcLdm9JTw
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) December 7, 2024
Sweida follows suit: Sweida was liberated from regime forces and under the control of Druze factions by Saturday morning.
Closing in on Damascus: The southern groups headed north while the northwestern fighters closed in on Homs, the next city on the highway to Damascus.
The regime was feeling the pinch as it watched opposition fighters approaching from all sides.
Its forces were in organisational collapse, according to Sanad, Al Jazeera’s digital investigation agency, with images emerging of soldiers abandoning their weapons and uniforms while many fled on foot from their military positions.
The people rise: This collapse in morale triggered widespread demonstrations in the rural areas surrounding Damascus, where protesters tore down posters of al-Assad and attacked military positions.
December 8: The final hours
Liberation of Homs: Desperate to stop the opposition, the regime bombed the Rastan Bridge, but opposition forces captured Homs regardless, in the very early hours of Sunday.
With that, they had cut al-Assad off from his coastal strongholds, where two Russian military bases are located.
The capture of Homs was a “death knell .. for the remaining possibility that the Syrian army would consolidate its powers and make a stand,” University of Oklahoma professor Joshua Landis told Al Jazeera.
On the road to Damascus: With armed opposition groups closing in on Damascus from all directions, the city plunged into chaos.
The military operations room deployed the “Red Crescent” division, specially trained for urban assaults, while many government forces were told to withdraw to Damascus International Airport and the security centres in central Damascus, but to no avail.
First, Mezzeh: The opposition fighters said they had taken control of Damascus’s Mezzeh Air Base, a strategic and symbolic win because the base was used by the government for rocket attacks and air raids against opposition-held territory throughout the war.
Then, Umayyad Square: Within two hours, new footage emerged from Umayyad Square in the heart of Damascus, showing citizens celebrating as opposition forces entered the capital unopposed, with celebratory gunfire and chants signalling the fall of al-Assad.
#Syria: regime soldiers have abandoned the Umayyad Square in the center of #Damascus.
Residents are taking over the streets. pic.twitter.com/LHCNbqTPz1
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) December 8, 2024
‘Syria is free’: By 6am on December 8, the fighters declared Damascus liberated, confirming that Bashar al-Assad had fled the country.
People quickly dismantled symbols of the al-Assad family’s cruel rule.
David Des Roches, an associate professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, attributed the success of the offensive to the “lack of morale and leadership” in the “demoralised, poorly led, poorly equipped, thoroughly corrupt” Syrian Army.
Prisoners emerge from Sednaya: Shortly after opposition fighters freed thousands of people who had been imprisoned since the Syrian uprising began in 2011, or earlier.
Sednaya, established in the early 1980s north of Damascus, has been a place where the al-Assad family has detained opponents for decades. Human rights organisations have described it as a “human slaughterhouse”.
During the liberation of the notorious Sednaya prison in Damascus, a small child was seen as prisoners were released.
This Syrian child was born in the prison.
30,000 Syrians were brutally killed from torture and executions since 2011.
There are no words to describe the… pic.twitter.com/T4TkwoTscj
— زاھىد ئەختەر – Zahid Akhtar (@ZahidDOAM) December 8, 2024