Ousted Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Moscow and has been given asylum “out of humanitarian considerations,” Russian news agencies state.
Putting an end to speculation about the whereabouts of Syria’s ousted president, Russian TV also reported the news.
In a major turn in the Syrian civil war, Assad reportedly left Syria early Sunday, and Syrians have taken to the streets and celebrated with gunfire after a rebel advance reached the capital, toppling Assad’s rule. However, a curfew has been declared in Damascus after people celebrated the downfall of al-Assad’s government on the streets of the capital.
Celebrations in the capital
The residents of Syrian Capital—Damascus prayed in mosques and celebrated the downfall of the Assad family’s 50 years of rule. People chanted anti-Assad slogans, honked car horns, and called, “God is great,” and teenage boys picked up the weapons that were apparently discarded by security forces and fired them into the air.
Visuals showed families walking the presidential palace, carrying household items. “It’s like a dream. I need someone to wake me up,” said opposition fighter Abu Laith.
The rebels “have felt the pain of the people,” said one woman, giving only her first name, Heba.
In a video statement, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali expressed the government’s willingness to “extend its hand” to the opposition, signaling a potential shift in the political landscape of Syria.
“I am in my house, and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” al-Jalili said in a video statement.
