Bashar al-Assad fled the country on a midnight flight that disappeared from radar.

Sources in the region say the Syrian president’s plane took off towards a Russian base in Syria, with US officials saying they believe he was heading for refuge in Moscow.

However there has been no confirmation of what happened after the flight took off, raising questions of his whereabouts.

A Syrian aeroplane took off from Damascus airport around the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels, according to data from the Flightradar website.

The aircraft initially flew towards Syria’s coastal region, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect, but then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.

The Telegraph could not immediately ascertain who was on board.