Rebel forces announce curfew in Damascus
A curfew starting at 4 p.m. and running until 5 a.m. will take effect in Damascus today, rebel forces said.
Photos: Syrians celebrate Assad's fall in Germany, Turkey
Syrians living in Turkey raise opposition flags as they celebrate in Ankara today.
Members of the Syrian community in Berlin today.
Netanyahu orders IDF to seize buffer zone on Syrian border
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced today that the IDF has seized control of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone separating the Israeli-occupied portion and the Syrian-controlled area of the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu said a 1974 agreement that established the zone of separation between the two countries had "collapsed" after Syrian soldiers abandoned their positions.
"We are acting first and foremost to protect our border," he said. "We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border.”
French President Macron welcomes end to 'barbaric state'
French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said France remained "committed to the security of all" in the Middle East.
“The barbaric state has fallen. At last," he said. "I pay tribute to the Syrian people, to their courage, to their patience. In this moment of uncertainty, I send them my wishes for peace, freedom, and unity."
'The future is ours,' says rebel leader
The rebel leader who commanded forces under the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, said today there would be “no turning back” after toppling the Assad regime in Syria.
In a statement broadcast on Syria’s state TV and translated by Reuters, al-Jolani said "the future is ours" as he reaffirmed his group’s commitment to the path it began in 2011 during the Arab Spring uprising, which demanded an end to the Assad family rule.
In a separate statement posted today on Telegram, al-Jolani urged people to protect and preserve public institutions "that belong to the great Syrian people."
A video posted by HTS showed al-Jolani, whose real name is Ahmed al-Sharaa, prostrating as he arrived in Damascus.
He said today that Syrian state institutions will be supervised by former Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jalali until they are handed over, according to Reuters, indicating efforts to secure a peaceful transition of power.
Returning home: Syrians in Lebanon flock to border crossing
Syrians gather at the border crossing today in Masnaa, Lebanon, to return home to Syria following the collapse of the 50-year rule of the Assad dynasty.
Assad weakened by ally distractions, says analyst
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was weakened as his allies fought conflicts elsewhere, Christopher Phillips, an associate fellow with the London-based think tank Chatham House, said in a statement today.
“Assad survived during the 2011-20 phase of the civil war after extensive help from Russia, Iran and Hezbollah,” he said. “But Hezbollah have been decimated by the war with Israel, Iran is much weaker too as a result, while Russia has removed many of its forces to Ukraine. Neither ally has been able to send anywhere near the level of support Assad received in the past, weakening his forces.
Phillips added that Assad’s domestic weaknesses were also a factor, saying he had become “complacent” as his regime’s brutality made life “grim” for Syrians.
“His military has melted away because it is deeply demoralized,” said Phillips. “Assad has focused on winning international recognition rather than consolidating his ‘victory’ in the civil war at home.”
Iran says it supports Syria's sovreignty after Iran-backed regime falls
In a statement issued on Sunday, Iran's Foreign Ministry has stated its “principled stance of respecting Syria’s unity, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” following the collapse of former President Bashar al-Assad, a close Iranian ally.
It also said Syria's future "is the exclusive right of its people, free from any destructive interventions,” and called for an “immediate cessation of military conflicts” and the start of “a national dialogue” to form a government representing all Syrians.
"The historical and friendly relations between the Iranian and Syrian peoples go back a long time," the statement added. "It is expected that these relations will continue."
Photos: Syrians ransack Bashar al-Assad's private residence
A man tries to remove a chandelier as people search for belongings in the ransacked private residence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Malkeh district of Damascus today.
A smashed portrait of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad, lies on the ground in Assad's private residence.
Who are the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group?
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, known as HTS, has been credited with spearheading the rebel offensive that lead to the fall of the Syrian government and the overthrow of the Assad regime.
HTS grew out of the former Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. Though it cut ties with Al Qaeda in 2016 and has publicly abandoned rhetoric about creating an Islamic caliphate, the U.S. and U.N. continue to designate it as a terrorist organization.
Experts say HTS’s recent battlefield successes are the culmination of four years of trying to turn the rebel forces into one capable of challenging Assad’s army, equipping them with drones and other high-tech weapons of war.
“The expansion of units ... along with large-scale indigenous rocket and missile production — has created a force that Assad’s regime has seriously struggled to defend against, let alone outmaneuver,” said Charles Lister, director of the Syria program at the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank, in a post on X.