Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country Sunday, as rebel forces pushed into Damascus in what was the culmination of a lightning offensive that saw city after city fall like dominoes.
It was a stunning end for the Assad family, which ruled the Mideast country with an iron fist for 50 years.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group, said Sunday that Syrian military forces received orders to pull out of Damascus International Airport after a plane carrying Mr. al-Assad and his party departed.
“SOHR activists in Damascus have also reported seeing hundreds of regime soldiers taking off their military uniforms after having been informed that they were laid off, as the al-Asaad regime had fallen,” the nongovernmental organization said in a statement.
Factions inside Syria had been struggling to force out Mr. al-Assad for more than a decade during a bloody civil war that had resulted in the deaths of more than half a million people and the displacement of 6 million others.
About 900 U.S. troops are based in Syria as part of the international mission to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State terror group that once ruled large swathes of the region.
“President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners,” White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett posted on X.
While Mr. al-Assad’s fall means Syrians will no longer have to fear a regime that used often brutal tactics to crush opposition, it raises fear of a power vacuum inside the country.
The collapse of Damascus came only hours after one of the largest rebel factions, the Islamist military group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, popularly known as HST, announced that they had captured the strategic city of Homs on the way to the capital.
The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center identified HST as a coalition of northern Syria-based Sunni Islamist insurgent groups that emerged from the Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s former branch in Syria. Led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the HST is believed to have 5,000-10,000 members. It has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and other governments.
On Sunday, Israeli military troops confirmed that they had redeployed forces in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights in the event of any chaos following the collapse of the al-Assad regime.
“The [Israel Defense Forces] has deployed forces in the buffer zone and in several other places necessary for its defense, to ensure the safety of the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel,” the IDF said on its Telegram social messaging page. “We emphasize that the IDF is not interfering with the internal events in Syria. The IDF will continue to operate as long as necessary in order to preserve the buffer zone and defend Israel and its civilians.”
Mr. al-Assad’s departure should give hope to Syrians who have borne the weight of nearly 14 years of relentless suffering and unspeakable loss, said Geir O. Pedersen, the United Nations’ envoy for Syria.
“The challenges ahead remain immense and we hear those who are anxious and apprehensive,” Mr. Pedersen said Sunday. “Yet, this is a moment to embrace the possibility of renewal. The resilience of the Syrian people offers a path toward a united and peaceful Syria.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.