Syrians poured into the streets of Damascus and beyond, on Sunday, December 8, echoing with celebratory gunfire after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, putting an end to the Assad family's 50 years of iron rule but raising questions about the future of the country and the wider region.
Joyful crowds gathered in the Syrian capital's central squares, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.
Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and the Assad family residence after President Bashar Assad and other top officials vanished, their whereabouts unknown.
AFP correspondents saw dozens of men, women and children wandering through the deposed leader's modern, spacious home whose rooms had been stripped bare.
Russia, a close ally, said Assad left the country after negotiations with rebel groups and had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaeda commander who cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance, leads the biggest rebel faction and is poised to chart the country's future direction. The rebels now face the daunting task of healing bitter divides in a country ravaged by war and still split among different armed factions.
Syrian state television aired a video statement early Sunday by a group of rebels saying that Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been set free. They called on people to preserve the institutions of "the free Syrian state." The rebels later announced a curfew in Damascus from 4 pm to 5 am.
Residents of Damascus gathered to pray in mosques and to celebrate in the squares, chanting "God is great." People also chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked car horns. Teen boys picked up weapons that had apparently been discarded by security forces and fired them in the air.
Revelers filled Umayyad Square in the city center, where the Defense Ministry is located. Men fired celebratory gunshots into the air and some waved the three-starred Syrian flag that predates the Assad government and was adopted by the revolutionaries.
Soldiers and police officers left their posts and fled, and looters broke into the Defense Ministry. Videos from Damascus showed families wandering into the presidential palace, with some emerging carrying stacks of plates and other household items.
Syria's al-Watan newspaper, which was historically pro-government, wrote: "We are facing a new page for Syria. We thank God for not shedding more blood. We believe and trust that Syria will be for all Syrians."
Outside Syria, in Lebanon, Turkey and Germany, Syrians took to the streets to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime.
