”The president of Syria, Bashar al Assad, arrived with his family in Moscow. Russia based on humanitarian criteria, offered him asylum“, a Kremlin source told the TASS agency.
Los syrians they took to the streets to celebrate across the country while shots continued to be heard in Damascus. There were also celebrations in several European capitals, destinations for millions of Syrians who escaped the war.
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News agencies reported that after the escape of Al Assada crowd broke into the Government Palace and his luxurious house Damascus and looted them. Images were also released of people trampling on a statue of Hafez al AssadBashar’s father who died in June 2000 and was replaced by his son at that time.
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He Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported on Sunday Israeli bombings on buildings of the intelligence services, customs and a military barracks, while an AFP correspondent saw flames in the former, hours after the takeover. Damascus.
On public television, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, Levant Liberation Organization) announced the fall of “tyrant Bashar al Assad and the liberation of Damascus”. He also said that all political prisoners had been released from the prison of Sednayacalled the “human slaughterhouse” and which is a symbol of the brutal repression of the regime.
“Oh, my revolutionary brothers, pray to God to thank him for the victory he has given us through your arms,” said the head of HTS, Abu Mohammad al Julani.
Los rebels They asked the population to preserve the institutions of the “free Syrian state” and announced a curfew in Damascus 13 hours long.
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At least 910 people died in Syria,
including 138 civilians, since the rebels launched their lightning offensive on November 27 that culminated in the capture of Damascus and the flight of President Bashar al Assad.
For his part, the Syrian Prime Minister, Mohamed Ghazi al Jalaliassured on Sunday that he extends his hand to “every Syrian who is interested in this country to preserve its institutions.” The rebels then said that public institutions will remain under Al Jalali’s supervision until they are “officially handed over.”
Al Jalali attributed the rebel offensive’s rapid success in overthrowing Al Assad because he “didn’t listen.” He said he did not know his whereabouts and indicated that he spoke with him for the last time “on the night of Friday to Saturday to inform him of the situation (…) at that time he was in his office in Damascus.”
Russiaone of the greatest allies of Al Assadsaid that he left the country after holding negotiations with rebel groups and that he had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.
Irananother ally of Al Assad, maintained that the future of Syria It must be decided by its people without external interventions.
Iran’s embassy in Damascus was looted. The Iranian diplomats left the legation before the assault, according to the Tehran Times newspaper.
In USAthe White House reported that President Joe Biden is “closely” following the “extraordinary events” in Syria.
During a visit to Israeli troops deployed in the Golan Heights occupied, in front of the border with Syriathe Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuassured that it is “a historic day in the Middle East.”
Netanyahu ordered the army to “seize” a demilitarized demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights. He claimed that the 50-year-old agreement collapsed as “Syrian forces abandoned their positions.”
“We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” he added.
Türkiyethe country accused of being behind the rebels, assured through its foreign ministry that it is willing to assume responsibilities to “heal the wounds” of Syria. He insisted that the transition must include “all religious and ethnic groups” of that nation.
Why did Al Assad fall so quickly and what will happen to the insurgents?
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The international analyst Enrique Banusdirector of the Institute of European Studies of the University of Piura, considered that Al Assad fell quickly because in Syria there was no longer anyone willing to die for the regime.
“Even in the army there was no longer any kind of support for him, He is a character who had evolved in a very sinister waylost all support”Banús said to The Commerce.
He added that The big question is what happened to Russia. “Al Assad was one of the conceited Vladimir Putinhe has been many times not only to Moscow, but also to the summer residence of the Russian president. And Moscow’s message was always ‘we do not let one of our allies fall.’ But they have done it”said.
“The fall of Al Assad is demonstrating the fragility of Russia, that he can no longer handle all the trouble he has gotten into. I think Putin overvalues what he has. “It seems to me that your army is vulnerable, since it has already needed the support of North Korea and mercenaries from Yemen for the war in Ukraine,” Banus explained.
“Russia has also been overwhelmed by the rapid advance of the rebels, commanded by a character who appears to be a fairly intelligent strategist. It has caught them off guard. “What happened in Syria these days is being compared to the Blitzkrieg strategy, the famous blitzkrieg of the Nazis in World War II,” Banús said.
“Besides, The Russian machinery is slow to make decisions because it is very vertical, It has happened to them in Ukraine. So, a quick action like this, because there has been no resistance, feels very bad for the Russians, which is what happened to them in the Kursk region when the Ukrainians entered, it took them a long time to react from above.”accurate.
Regarding what will happen to the insurgents, Banús indicated that at this moment it is impossible to know if they are really moderateyes, as they have repeated.
“Are they really moderates or do they act moderate as a strategy to ensure that people do not attack them? This will be seen in the first decisions they make regarding those who supported Al Assadthat is always a very interesting indicator. There we will know to what extent they respect the human rights of the defeated. “We have to wait”held.
Who is Abu Mohammad al Julani
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Abu Mohammad al Julaniwhich is a pseudonym, is the leader of HTS. In an interview with US public broadcaster PBS, he said he was born Ahmed al Sharaa and is a Syrian whose family comes from the Golan region.
He added that he was born in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where his father worked, and that He grew up in Damascus.
The United States offers a reward of 10 million dollars for information leading to his capture. Washington, like the UN Security Council, has designated him as a terrorist.
According to Arab media, Al Julani studied medicine, but abandoned his studies and joined Al Qaeda in Iraq in 2003, after the US invasion ordered by President George W. Bush.
In Iraq he became friends with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in that country.
After Al-Zarqawi’s assassination in 2006, Al Julani moved to Lebanon, but later returned to Iraq, where he was detained by US forces.
He was imprisoned in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. He spent a total of five years behind bars in different Iraqi prisons.
After his release, Al Julani resumed his activities with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, under the command of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who in June 2014 would establish the caliphate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
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In August 2011, when the civil war against Bashar al Assad had already broken out, Al Baghdadi sent Al Julani to Syria to establish an Al Qaeda affiliate.
This was how officially Al Julani founded the Al Nusra Front on January 24, 2012. Over time, it became one of the most powerful armed factions in Syria.
According to the EFE agency, Al Julani himself confirmed in 2013 the close relationship he had with Al Baghdadi and how he had personally commissioned him to direct “Al Qaeda’s fight in Syria.”
Besides, He also swore allegiance to Egyptian Ayman al Zawahiri, who was leader of Al Qaeda until his death in 2022.
The Al Nusra Front took control of Idlib in northwestern Syria and imposed strict rule on the local population.
According to the Israeli portal Ynet.com, critics accused Al Julani of building an economic empire at the expense of civilians. It benefited from income from border crossings, control over oil companies, and dominance in agriculture and commerce.
In 2016, Al Julani surprisingly announced that he was dissolving the Nusra Front. and created another group, the Levante Conquest Front, which shortly after was renamed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Levant Liberation Organization), which merged with other Syrian rebel factions.
He justified the dissolution of the Al Nusra Front by claiming that he intended to command an independent group that has the sole objective of defeating the Government of Syria and liberating the country.
In addition to key Turkish support, the HTS In Syria it has been successful due to the geopolitical moment that the world is experiencing, where Russia is engaged in a war of attrition against Ukraine since February 2022. While Iran and Hezbollah are in conflict with Israel, a country that has dealt devastating blows to the Shiite movement Lebanese, to the point that it has left it without its main commanders and has destroyed a large number of places where it stored its arsenal.