celebrations have erupted in Syria’s capital Damascus after opposition fighters announced on state telenision that the 24-year rule of president bashar al-Assad had

come to an end after 13 years of war.Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus on Sunday, chanting “Freedom”.The head of Syria’s main opposition group abroad, Hadi al-Bahra, declared the capital was now “without Bashar al-Assad” after the fighters’ lightning offensive.The opposition said al-Assad had left Damascus. His whereabouts remain unknown.As Syrians expressed joy, Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said he was ready to support the continuity of governance and prepared to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.Syria’s war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against al-Assad’s authoritarian rule, quickly morphed into a full-blown conflict that dragged in foreign powers. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed while millions were forced from their homes in one of the world’s largest refugee crises.



Opposition fighters declare that they have taken the capital, Damascus, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria.



Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali said he was ready to cooperate with "any leadership chosen by the Syrian people".


People atop a tank at Umayyad Square in Damascus.



sourse: al jazeera