President Bashar al-Assad’s government seems to have collapsed after rebel fighters got into Damascus after a lightning and successful campaign. Syrian opposition’s war monitor said that Bashar Al Assad has left Syria, which marked the end of the rule of the regime that has dominated Syria for more than five decades.
The rebel assault started with a decisive fight in transit in Aleppo, where HTS supported by Turkey attacked and entered government lines last week. This was a major blow that brought to an end a protracted period of stand-off that hung over the warring nation from the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. Despite that, the government and its allies lost the strategic city of Aleppo in December 2016, which sparked a series of defeats one after another for the government.
In 24 hours, rebels stormed strategic cities that include Daraa, Quneitra, Suwayda and Homs cities. Hims, the third largest city in Syria, was vacated by the government troops a day before the rebels advanced on the capital. Perhaps even more shocking was the velocity of the advance, which stunned both casual and professional onlookers who seemed to have underestimated the ability of the Assad regime to be overwhelmed by the rebel advance.
The last news came on early Sunday when rebels attacked the Sednaya prison near Damascus, released prisoners and raised a few hours later the question of the collapse of the Assad government. For many, it felt like this event signified the end of an era – the rule of the Assad family, which managed to withstand years of civil war and sanctions.
The catastrophic collapse of its main city of Damascus reflects the vulnerability of the regime, which has failed in the period of years of warring to offer serious resistance for merely days. This means that the future of Syria is unknown, though rebel groups are squarely positioned to chart the future of the nation.
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