With regime toppled, Syrians take down statues of late Hafez al-Assad

DAMASCUS

With Sunday’s collapse of Syria’s Baath regime and the end of the Assad family era, Syrians were seen toppling statues of Hafez al-Assad, the late father of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in various cities across the country.

As the biggest cities of the country fell out of regime control, people took to the streets and demolished statues of the late Assad and smashed pictures of his son Bashar.

From the capital Damascus to the Assad family coastal hometown of Latakia, among other cities, all symbols of the regime are being taken down.

In Damascus, people also stormed the palace of Bashar al-Assad, whose whereabouts are still unknown, while celebrations continue in many parts of the country.

International media reported various claims that Assad left the country, with unconfirmed reports suggesting that he may have traveled to Russia or a neighboring Middle Eastern country.

In recent days, thousands of people around the world have used flight-tracking programs to track the routes of flights to and from Damascus and Latakia.

Road to collapse

Clashes broke out between Assad regime forces and anti-regime armed groups on Nov. 27 in rural areas west of Aleppo, a major city in northern Syria.

On Nov. 30, anti-regime groups took control of most of the center of Aleppo from regime forces, and on the same day, they gained control over the entire Idlib province. Last Thursday, after fierce clashes, the groups took the city center of Hama from regime forces.

Anti-regime groups captured some settlements in the strategically important province of Homs, a gateway to the capital Damascus, and started to advance there.

On Friday, armed opposition groups launched an operation in the Daraa province on Syria's border with Jordan and recaptured the city center from the regime forces after clashes.

On Saturday, the entire province of Suwayda in southern Syria also came under the control of opposition groups. That same day, local opposition groups in Quneitra also took control of the provincial center.

In Homs, which leads to the capital, anti-regime forces took control of the provincial center on Saturday.

Groups advancing against Assad regime forces entered the southern suburbs of Damascus later on Saturday. Regime forces also withdrew from the Defense and Interior ministries and the international airport in Damascus.

As anti-regime armed groups started to dominate the capital, the Assad regime on Sunday morning quickly lost all control of Damascus.

Separately, in Operation Dawn of Freedom launched by the opposition Syrian National Army against the terrorist organization PKK/YPG in rural areas of Aleppo on Dec.1, the Tel Rifaat district center was liberated from terrorism.