Syria live updates: Israel warned to cease airstrikes as rebel leader vows to name Assad regime officials wanted for torture

The rebel offensive that ousted Moscow ally Bashar al-Assad has left Russia's military bases in Syria under threat.

The Tartus naval base and Hmeimim air base are Russia's only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union and have been key to the Kremlin's activities in Africa and the Middle East.

Russian state media report that the Syrian opposition has "guaranteed" the security of the facilities, but it is not clear if Moscow will maintain control of them.

Here's what we know about them:

• Tartus

The Tartus naval base on Syria's coast is Russia's only entrance point to the Mediterranean sea.

It is used as a refuelling and repair site for Russian vessels, allowing them to stay in the Mediterranean without having to return to Russia's Black Sea ports via the Turkish straits.

The site was leased to the Soviet Union in 1971 under a deal with Syria, becoming fully operational in 1977 as the Soviet co-operation with Arab states intensified during the Cold War. It is a deep-water port, allowing it to host nuclear submarines.

Putin ordered the base's expansion in 2017, after Assad gave a 49-year lease on the facility free-of-charge in exchange for helping keep him in power.

• Hmeimim

Russia built the Hmeimim airbase in Syria in 2015, repurposing an existing civilian airport near the port city of Latakia.

The base is believed to be well protected, with security perimeters and air defences that have a range of up to 250 kilometres (155 miles), according to Russian state media.

Moscow used the base to conduct air strikes on opposition-held areas throughout the Syrian civil war.

The Russian army does not publish information about its deployments. But many analysts believe the number of soldiers there drastically decreased after 2022, when Moscow began its military assault on Ukraine.

Syrian rebel forces combing through the abandoned presidential palace of toppled tyrant Bashar al-Assad have uncovered a treasure trove of personal effects - including a particularly special Royal souvenir.

Chief among the valuables discovered by members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - the Islamist group that led the rebel offensive - was a signed picture of the late Queen Elizabeth II standing alongside Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace.

The picture had been hand-signed by both royals and dated 2002 - though it appeared to have been pulled out of a box containing all kinds of other documents and bric-a-brac.

Other items included a thick gold plaque addressed to the Syrian National football team by FIFA, congratulating players on their participation in the 2005 Youth World Cup - it was unclear why Syria's President had taken the award for himself.

The plaque was embossed with the signature of former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter who was subsequently banned from FIFA activities following a monumental corruption probe.

• Read the story by David Averre here

Syria's new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago.

In a brief address on state television, Mohammed al-Bashir (pictured), a figure little known across most of Syria who previously ran an administration in a small pocket of the northwest controlled by rebels, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1.

He said:

Today we held a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime.

The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and institutions to caretake the government.

Bashir was born in 1983 in Jabal al-Zawiya in Idlib province, an area mostly run in recent years by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions with less influence.

He studied electrical and electronic engineering at Aleppo university, and Islamic and civil law at Idlib university, according to his biography, and once worked for Syria's state gas company.

He had served as the head of the rebel administration's self-styled 'Salvation Government' since January, and previously held the role of its 'development minister'.

The 'Salvation Government', with its own ministries, departments, judicial and security authorities, was set up in Idlib in 2017 to assist people in the rebel-held area cut off from government services.

Today in the Syrian capital, banks reopened for the first time since Assad's overthrow.

Shops have reopened, traffic returned to the roads, construction workers were back fixing a roundabout in the Damascus city centre and street cleaners were out sweeping the streets.

There was a notable decrease in the number of armed men on the streets.

Two sources close to the rebels said their command had ordered fighters to withdraw from cities and for police and internal security forces affiliated with the main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS) to deploy.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Tuesday that the military had hit several Syrian naval vessels in overnight strikes.

'The IDF (military) has been operating in Syria in recent days to strike and destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel.

'The navy operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet with great success,' Katz said during a visit to a naval base in the northern city of Haifa.

He also warned Syria's new rulers not to follow ousted president Bashar al-Assad's path.

by David Patrikarakos

He called himself Hitler and loved to put on ‘entertainments’. To amuse his dinner guests, he would force the prisoners in his charge to act as dogs, donkeys, cats or other animals.

Those who failed to play their part would be beaten. ‘The dog has to bark, the cat meow, the rooster crow,’ recalled a former inmate. ‘Hitler tries to tame them. When he pets one dog the other dog should act jealous.’

‘Hitler’ was a guard at a prison at the Mezze Air Base in Damascus and his sadism was unyielding even by the standards of Assad’s Syria.

At Mezze, guards would regularly hang prisoners from a fence naked and spray water on them during cold nights. The New York Times described how one prisoner there was crammed into a tyre and beaten.

He said an officer once told him that a screaming woman also in the prison but out of sight was his mother. He counted 19 cellmates who died from disease, torture or neglect in a single month.

• Read David Patrikarakos' piece here

Turkey has expanded its border crossing capacities to accommodate the surge in Syrian refugees seeking to return home following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the interior minister has said.

Following Assad's ousting on Sunday, hundreds flocked to Turkey's southern border with Syria, with Ankara quickly moving to expand its crossing facilities, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters today.

Although we had a daily capacity to accommodate 3,000 crossings, we have increased that to between 15,000 and 20,000.

Turkey is home to nearly three million refugees who fled after the start of the civil war in 2011, with Ankara hoping the tectonic shift in neighbouring Syria will allow many to return home.

Returning Syrians have visited a famous ice cream parlour in Damascus as they head back to the country following the overthrow of the Assad regime.

After racing from Lebanon to Syria to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime and making arrangements for his family to follow, 42-year-old Anas Idrees knew what was next on his list of priorities.

He ventured into the grand Hamidiyeh Souk in old Damascus until he arrived at the renowned Bakdash ice cream parlour, then ordered a large scoop of their signature mastic-infused Arabic gelato.

Idrees had last savoured it 15 years earlier, before the Syrian civil war made him a refugee.

'I swear to God, it tastes different now,' he said after eating a spoonful.

It was good before, but it's changed because now we are happy inside.

For more than 100 years and through many wars, Bakdash has served up an Arabic-style of ice cream that is infused with Sahlab, a flour made from orchid roots and pounded by hand with metre-long mallets until it takes on a soft, stretchy texture.

On Monday, hundreds turned up at Bakdash, many of them fighters fresh from the battlefield.

Ahmed Aslaan, a 22-year-old combatant wearing green fatigues, said he had not seen Damascus in more than a decade and enjoying the ice cream was a perk of his newfound freedom.

Thank God we achieved our goal. Now we can go around all of Syria in our own car. We were all stuck in a tiny area before, now we have space.

If you're just joining us this afternoon we have provided live coverage of the developing situation in Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

In case you're wondering what has happened today, here's what you need to know:

• Israel has denied reports its tanks are advancing on Damascus after Syrian sources claimed the country was within 16 miles of the capital following overnight airstrikes on military targets
• The United Nations' special envoy for Syria has called for an end to Israeli airstrikes in the country as it could threaten a possible 'transformation' following the overthrow of the Assad regime
• The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had recorded more than 300 Israeli strikes on Syria
• Mohammed al-Bashir, who ran the rebel-led Salvation Government, has been appointed caretaker prime minister of the transitional Syrian government until March 1
• The UK government has opened the door for talks with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) despite the rebel group being proscribed as a terror group

The Government is focused on 'the risk posed in relation to terrorism' given the unfolding events in Syria, Downing Street has said.

Asked about how concerned officials are about the security risk as a result of what is happening in the country, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:

Obviously national security is clearly of absolute priority to the Government, and is obviously key to the meetings we’re having, conversations we’re having with regional allies. Daesh continue to represent one of the most significant global terrorist threats, including to the UK.

He added:

It is an unfolding, fluid, fast moving situation. One of the things we are focused on is the risk posed in relation to terrorism. Intelligence services are looking closely at this and will not hesitate to take action to protect UK national security.

He also described jihadists held in camps as 'a key focus for the UK and indeed other countries'.

*This article is available only to Mail+ subscribers*

by Guy Adams

'Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young and very chic – the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies.’

So began Vogue magazine’s gushing profile of Syria’s ‘dynamic’ presidential spouse, dubbing her a ‘rose in the desert’ who was ‘on a mission to create a beacon of culture and secularism’ in the otherwise troubled region.

Blessed with both brains and beauty, she was apparently a ‘thin, long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement’. It was March 2011, and Asma was living a sort of dream.

Born and raised in London, she’d married a dashing prince, in the shape of the country’s president, Bashar, roughly a decade earlier. Now, she divided her time between raising their three children and attempting to turn Syria into a fashionable holiday destination. The taste-makers at Vogue were smitten.

• Read Guy's piece here

Qatari officials are in contact with the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and will hold talks with Syria's new caretaker prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir in the next 24 hours, according to AFP.

'The Qataris have established the first channel of communication with HTS.

'Communication with HTS and Qatari diplomats are expected to continue in the next 24 hours with Al Bashir,' an official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to senior rebel Mohammed Bashir.

Bashir was today named Syria's caretaker prime minister as the country looks to move on following the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

Qatar - which was one of the main backers of the armed rebellion that erupted after Assad's government crushed a peaceful uprising in 2011 - had been a stern critic of the ousted leader.

Assad, in power since 2000, was toppled over the weekend following a swift campaign by HTS and its allies.

The official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, added the 'focus of the communication with HTS and others is on the need... to maintain calm and preserve Syria's public institutions during the transition period'.

The fall of President Bashar al-Assad has put Syria at a crossroads, after nearly 14 years of civil war sparked by his deadly crackdown on democracy protests.

While Syrians around the country and in the diaspora were celebrating the dictator's ousting more than 50 years after Assad's father seized power, the country now faces enormous uncertainty.

What does the future hold for the country, and does it stand a chance at the democracy and peace so many Syrians have dreamt of?

• Who are Syria's rebels?

Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the rebel offensive that ousted Assad, is rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda and comprises of a myriad factions.

Their stunning takeover will test their ability to remain united and mend ties with other groups, in a country that war has divided into fiefdoms ruled by rivals under varying degrees of foreign influence.

'There is the danger that armed groups will descend into fighting and rivalries,' said Mona Yacoubian, vice president of the Middle East and North Africa Center at the US Institute of Peace.

While HTS's so-called Salvation Government has long controlled the Idlib region in northwest Syria, two border strips held by Turkish-backed factions have their own self-styled Syrian Interim Government.

In the southern Sweida and Daraa provinces, local fighters took control during the collapse of Assad's rule, while some of them have gone to Damascus, rebel sources told AFP.

Beyond the rebel divisions, other groups are also vying for control of former government strongholds. A semi-autonomous Kurdish administration controls the northeast.

• What are the challenges?

Just two days after Assad's overthrow, it is unclear whether HTS and its allies can consolidate power across Syria.

'Assad's fall provides an enormous opportunity for Syrians to realise their dream of establishing a multi-confessional democracy,' said Yacoubian.

'But the road will be long and fraught with obstacles,' she said, warning it was important 'power vacuums are prevented and security is re-established'.

As Syrians rejoice at the fall of a brutal government, human rights groups have warned HTS too has a record of rights violations, which prompted protests earlier this year.

While HTS has promised to protect minorities from harm, it has not uttered a word on whether the Syrians will be able to elect their rulers.

• Who are the new Syria's friends?

Assad was a pariah in the West, and relied on support from Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah to stay in power.

But the rebels who ousted him are also outcasts.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israel has launched more than 300 strikes on military positions in Syria since Assad's fall, and sent troops into the buffer zone bordering Syria.

Yet there are some signs of a possible shift.

President Joe Biden has vowed to engage with all Syrian groups, though President-elect Donald Trump's views are still unclear.

According to Yacoubian, longtime Assad foe Turkey will likely be a key ally.

The UK government has opened the door for talks with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) despite the rebel group being proscribed as a terror group.

Downing Street said the designation of HTS does not prevent ministers from engaging with them.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:

The fact that HTS is a proscribed terrorist group does not prevent the Government from engaging with HTS in the future.

Pointing to terrorism legislation he added:

There’s no absolute offence of meeting a proscribed organisation.

He said that engagement 'could for example include meetings designed to encourage a designated group to engage in a peace process or facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid'.

'More broadly we keep proscriptions under review and we’re obviously monitoring the situation closely,' the spokesman added.

Mohammed al-Bashir has been appointed caretaker prime minister of the transitional Syrian government until March 1, 2025, he said in a televised statement on Tuesday.

Al-Bashir ran the rebel-led Salvation Government before the 12-day lightning offensive swept into Damascus.

Iran has claimed it has repatriated 4,000 citizens from Syria following the ousting of dictator Bashar al-Assad when rebels took over Damascus.

'Over the past three days, 4,000 Iranian citizens were returned to Iran,'Fatemeh Mohajerani, the spokeswoman for Iran's government, said at a press conference in the capital.

She added that Iran would keep up its efforts 'until the departure of the last Iranian' in Syria.

Around 10,000 Iranian citizens had been living in Syria in recent years, according to official figures.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards sent 'military advisers' to Syria to help Assad during the civil war that broke out in 2011.

Following the recent downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Israel and the United States are working to destroy the nation's stockpile of toxic chemical weapons in a bid to stop them falling into the hands of extremists.

Rebel forces ousted the dictator after taking control of the capital, Damascus, on Sunday - the latest chapter in a bloody civil war that started in 2011 and saw the country spiral into a hub for violence and brutality.

Assad, known for his cruel tactics, previously faced calls for international military action against his government after launching chemical weapons attacks against his own people in the suburbs of the Syrian capital in 2013.

Then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the August 21 attack 'the worst use of weapons of mass destruction in the 21st century,' with the death toll reaching over a staggering 1,400.

Now that Assad and members of his family have reportedly fled Syria to Moscow, Israel and the US have began launching attacks on the country's chemical weapons depots and ISIS camps.

• Read the story by our Foreign Reporter Taryn Pedler here

The UK is on alert for jihadis coming from Syria today after the chaotic collapse of the Assad regime.

Ministers revealed the security services are 'on watch' for extremists returning, acknowledging it is a 'matter of great concern'.

A former MI6 chief warned yesterday that there was a danger of a 'very large number' of detainees linked to Islamic State (IS) being freed.

Alex Younger suggested they could pose a 'chronic' threat to the West's security.

Meanwhile, the British government has put Syrian asylum cases on hold - but is dodging on whether those who have already been granted leave to remain can stay.

The vast majority of claims are thought to hinge on human rights issues relating to the former dictator's regime.

• Read the story by our Political Editor James Tapsfield here

These photographs show the wreckage of Syrian naval ships which were destroyed during an overnight Israeli attack on the port city of Latakia.

Israel has previously said it is acting to stop weapons falling 'into the hands of extremists' following the overthrow of the Assad regime.

Qatar considers it unacceptable for Israel to 'exploit' the current situation in Syria and violate its sovereignty, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Asked about any communication with Syria's leading rebel faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Al-Ansari said Qatar's doors are open to all concerned parties in Syria.

Turkey has also criticised Israel today, accusing the country of an 'occupying mentality' after its forces entered a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad.

'We strongly condemn Israel's entry into the separation zone between Israel and Syria,' a foreign ministry statement said, adding: 'In this sensitive period.. Israel is once again displaying its occupying mentality.'

The armed groups that have swept Syrian president Bashar al-Assad from power must transform their 'good messages' to Syrians into actions on the ground, the UN envoy for Syria said Tuesday.

After more than 13 years of civil war in Syria, the government's collapse came in a matter of days in a lightning offensive by the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Geir Pedersen said:

The realities so far is that the HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people

They have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness," he said, adding that "we have also seen... reassuring things on the ground

Pedersen, a Norwegian diplomat who took over as UN envoy for Syria in 2018, said the 'most important test' will be how the transitional arrangements in Damascus are organised and implemented.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had recorded more than 300 Israeli strikes on Syria since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, adding that the raids had 'destroyed the most important military sites' in the country.

Assad fled Syria as an Islamist-led rebel alliance swept into the capital Damascus, bringing to an end on Sunday to five decades of brutal rule by his clan.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who headed the offensive that forced Assad out, has begun talks on a transfer of power and vowed to pursue former senior government officials responsible for torture and war crimes.

His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda and is proscribed by many Western governments as a terrorist organisation, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric.

The fall of Assad, whose clan had zero tolerance for dissent and who maintained a complex web of prisons and detention centres to keep Syrians from straying from the Baath party line, sparked celebrations around the country and in the diaspora all over the world.

The United Nations' special envoy for Syria envoy to Syria has today called for an end to Israeli airstrikes in the country as it could threaten a possible 'transformation' following the overthrow of the Assad regime.

Geir Pedersen described the strikes as a 'very troubling development', adding: 'We are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments in Syrian territory, this needs to stop.'

In reference to Israeli moves to extend a buffer zone inside Syria, he added: 'It is extremely important that we don't see any action from any international actor that destroys the possibility for this transformation in Syria to take place.'

The Norwegian diplomat said it was essential transitional arrangements following the ousting of Bashar Assad be as inclusive as possible which included organisations like the victorious HTS rebel army, which the UN has labelled a terrorist group.

Fawaz Al Akhras and former diplomat Sahar Otri pictured in 2004

The father-in-law of Bashar Al Assad used to enjoy friendly chats with neighbours before he turned 'arrogant' and standoffish after his daughter married the Syrian dictator, MailOnline has been told.

Fawaz Akhras, a renowned cardiologist, and his wife Sahar Akhras, a retired diplomat, are the parents of Asma Al Assad, who married the deposed Syrian tyrant in 2000 when he was studying in London.

The couple live in a smart, modest home in North Acton, west London where they raised Asma before she went on to live a life of opulence as the Syrian First Lady while her husband waged a campaign of terror to suppress his political opponents.

MailOnline has spoken to neighbours, friends and business owners in the heavily Syrian part of London where Asma's parents own a £1million home.

Neighbours say the couple flew to Moscow 10 days ago, where their daughter, Al Assad and grandchildren are seeking asylum under Vladimir Putin.

• Read our exclusive story by Rory Tingle, Vivek Chaudhary and Arthur Parashar here

The Israeli military on Tuesday denied reports that its tanks were advancing towards Damascus, insisting that Israeli forces were stationed in a buffer zone near the Israeli-Syrian border.

'The reports circulated by some media outlets claiming that the Israeli Defense Forces (military) are advancing towards or nearing Damascus are completely false,' military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

The IDF forces are stationed within the buffer zone and at defensive points near the border in order to protect Israel's borders.

Reuters earlier reported an Israeli military incursion into Syria has reached about 16 miles southwest of Damascus, according to Syrian security sources.

The thousands upon thousands of Syrians rejoicing the fall of President Bashar al-Assad have plenty to be happy about.

But many among them are celebrating the release of long-lost family members, friends and loved ones who were cast into Syria's prisons where the Assad regime meted out a truly heinous brand of torture, torment and mistreatment.

The infamous Sednaya Prison (pictured) near Damascus, nicknamed the 'Human Slaughterhouse', is the epicentre of this systematic terror where huge numbers of detainees were subjected to all manner of inhumane treatments and executed.

But there are dozens more facilities across the nation where victims of the Assad regime were left to rot.

Now, as survivors of these hellhole jails emerge to reunite with their families and give chilling testimonies about life behind bars, those deemed responsible for orchestrating the horrors may soon face their comeuppance.

The leader of Syria's rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that played a leading role in the lightning offensive that ousted Assad has vowed to hunt down officials, security forces and army officers who 'tortured' the Syrian people.

• Read the full story by David Averre here

Intelligence services are 'keeping a very close eye' on the situation in Syria, a Home Office minister has said.

Dame Angela Eagle was asked about the prospect of jihadists who are British citizens returning to the UK, and told Times Radio:

Rest assured that the intelligence services are keeping a very close eye on what’s going on and we’re in contact with all of our allies to see how this pans out.

She added:

Clearly any potential return of jihadists is a matter of great concern, which is why we’ll be keeping a very very close eye on how this situation develops in the coming days and weeks.

It comes as one of Britain's former head spies warned of a 'serious spike' in Isis's threat to Europe after the fall of Assad in Syria.

The main rebel commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, met with Assad's prime minister, Mohammed Jalali, and Vice President Faisal Mekdad to discuss the transitional government, a source told Reuters.

Jalali said the handover could take days to carry out.

Golani (pictured above) has vowed to rebuild Syria, and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has spent years trying to soften its image to reassure foreign nations and minority groups within Syria.

But fears of reprisals remained.

HTS said it will not hesitate to hold security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people accountable, describing them as criminals and murderers.

'We will release a list that includes the names of the most senior officials involved in the torturing of the Syrian people,' Golani said in a statement.

'Rewards will be offered to those who will provide information about senior army and security officers involved in war crimes.'

HTS is designated as a terrorist organisation by many states and the UN, and its governing credentials are uncertain.

Citizens down statues of Hafez al-Assad, the father of Bashar, in Damascus

The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors late on Monday, and diplomats said they were still in shock at how quickly Assad's overthrow unfolded over 12 days, after a 13-year civil war that was locked in stalemate for years.

'Everyone was taken by surprise, everyone, including the members of the council. So we have to wait and see and watch ... and evaluate how the situation will develop,' Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters after the body met.

Russia played a major role in supporting Assad's government and helping it fight the rebels.

The Syrian leader fled Damascus for Moscow on Sunday, ending more than 50 years of brutal rule by his family.

An Israeli military incursion into Syria has reached about 16 miles southwest of Damascus, according to Syrian security sources.

Israel has already seized a buffer zone in southern Syria and launched overnight airstrikes on army and air bases after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad by a rebel alliance.

A Syrian security source said Israeli troops reached Qatana, which is 10 km (six miles) into Syrian territory east of a demilitarised zone separating Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. The Israeli military declined comment.

Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have condemned the incursion. Saudi Arabia said the move would "ruin Syria's chances of restoring security".

Regional security sources and officers within the now fallen Syrian army said heavy Israeli airstrikes continued against military installations and airbases across Syria overnight, destroying dozens of helicopters and jets, as well as Republican Guard assets in and around Damascus.

AlJazeera reports that Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada has been found dead.

He organised and participated in pro-democracy rallies from the early days of the Syrian revolution.

In 2012, he was for trying to smuggle baby formula into a besieged suburb of the capital .He was brutally tortured for nearly two years before fleeing to Europe.

He was later arrested again in 2020 at Damascus international airport and disappeared, with his whereabouts unknown until today.

His body was found after rebel fighters scoured Sednaya Prison.

The search for missing prisoners who had been believed to be held in secret underground cells at the infamous Sednaya prison near Damascus has been called off.

The five teams 'did not find any evidence confirming the existence of secret cellars or dungeons that have not been discovered'.

Brazil has pulled its ambassador and diplomats out of Syria, ordering them to neighboring Lebanon amid the tensions left by the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, a government official said.

Ambassador Andre Luiz Azevedo dos Santos and the 'small group' of diplomats who worked in the embassy are now in Beirut, where they will stay until the security situation in Syria's capital stabilizes, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took the decision after several state buildings and other embassies in Damascus were stormed and vandalized, the official said.

The Brazilian embassy itself was not targeted.

Iran has condemned Israel’s 'repeated violations of Syrian infrastructure' and seizure of Syrian land.

Israeli troops took up positions in a buffer zone in Syria near the occupied Golan Heights to create a 'buffer zone'.

A fresh wave of Israeli air strikes has pummelled military buildings in the country.

The Reuters news agency reported that Israeli planes have bombed at least three major Syrian army air bases that housed dozens of helicopters and jets near Damascus.

Qamishli airbase in northeast Syria, Shinshar base in Homs and Aqaba airport southwest of the capital were all hit.

Israel also launched strikes on a research centre on the outskirts and a centre for electronic warfare near the Sayeda Zainab area.

Israel told the United Nations that it is involved in 'limited' actions in Syria after the fall of al-Assad's regime.

Crowds are gathering to enter Saydnaya military prison, known as the "human slaughterhouse," with some hoping to find relatives who were held there after thousands of inmates were released.

Teams are still carrying out investigations in secret compartments in the basement at Sednaya Prison after the fall of the Assad regime.

Austria has said it is preparing to deport Syrian refugees while Germany and France are planning to stop processing asylum applications from the country after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad and his brutal regime.

Austrian interior minister Gerhard Karner said he has 'instructed the ministry to prepare an orderly repatriation and deportation programme to Syria'.

The country's conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer has ordered the suspension of 'all ongoing Syrian asylum applications' and a 'review' of all asylum grants, the interior ministry said in a statement.

READ MORE:

David Lammy today warned the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship in Syria could spark a fresh migration crisis in Europe and a surge in illegal arrivals to Britain.

The Foreign Secretary welcomed the downfall of Assad's brutal regime in the Middle Eastern country and said it presented an 'opportunity' for Syrians.

But he also warned it was a 'moment of danger' for the war-torn nation and the wider region, as Mr Lammy noted Syria had proven to be a 'hotbed of extremism'.

READ MORE:

The in-laws of former Syrian President Bashar Al Assad have fled the UK and are believed to be in Moscow, their neighbours and friends have told MailOnline.

Fawaz Akhras, a renowned cardiologist, and Sahar Akhras, a retired diplomat, are the parents of Asma Al Assad, who married the deposed Syrian dictator in 2000 when he was studying in London.

The couple live in a smart, modest home in North Acton, west London where they raised Asma before she went on to live a life of opulence as the Syrian First Lady while her husband waged a campaign of terror to suppress his political opponents.

The owner of a Syrian supermarket in Acton, who knows Mr Akhras but did not wish to be named told MailOnline: 'I saw him about ten days ago and he said he was going abroad for a while and that his wife was already out of the country.

'He didn't say where but there is a large Syrian community in Acton and the word is that he and his wife have gone to Moscow to console their daughter and son-in-law.

The downfall of Syria's tyrant leader Bashar al-Assad has marked a dramatic end to over half a century of his family's brutal rule.

Rebel groups, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, made significant lightening advances over the weekend, leaving Damascus vulnerable and causing the collapse of Assad's once impenetrable government.

Shifting power dynamics have long reflected who has control over the Middle Eastern nation, with Assad surprisingly thrown into the political role as a result of his elder brother being killed in a car crash.

Often described as a dictator, his power relied on not just his leadership and international allies, but on the unyielding support of his inner circle made up of family members.

This included his 'ruthless' mother, his sister, known as 'the Iron Lady', and his calculating brother-in-law, who is believed to be linked to a high-profile assassination.

READ MORE

Syrians are continuing to celebrate the toppling of Bashar al-Assad and his regime, with scores of people taking to the streets in the capital of Damascus.

Rebels were seen with flowers in the barrels of their assault rifles, children were seen playing near a tank, while some have painted their faces with the revolutionary flag.

Prisoners held inside Assad's notorious Syrian torture chamber prison were forced to suck their own blood off the floor and rape fellow inmates.

Sednaya Prison, nicknamed the 'Human Slaughterhouse', is where huge numbers of detainees were tortured, subjected to all manner of inhumane treatments and executed.

Survivors of the Syrian hellhole have provided chilling testimonies about life behind Sednaya's bars, describing a world 'carefully designed to humiliate, degrade, sicken, starve and ultimately kill those trapped inside'.

It comes amid the downfall of Assad's government, with rebels freeing thousands of detainees in Homs while Syrians plead for their loved ones to be freed from the notorious torture chamber of Sednaya.

Assad previously denied both killing thousands of detainees at Sednaya as well as using a secret crematorium to dispose of their remains in 2017.

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Palestinian terror group Hamas congratulated the Syrian people for achieving their 'aspirations for freedom and justice' after toppling President Bashar al-Assad.

It was Hamas' first public comment since rebel forces swept into the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday after a lightning advance that sent Assad fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and six decades of his family's autocratic rule.

Hamas is currently engaged with a war against Israel after its October 7 raids saw the group's military thugs murdering, raping and destroying Israeli villages, leaving 1,200 people dead.

Speaking of Syria, Hamas said: 'We stand strongly with the great people of Syria... and respect the will, the independence, and the political choices of the people of Syria.'

The Islamist group added it hoped that post-Assad Syria would continue 'its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people'.

Syrian rebel groups capped off their lightning offensive against government forces this weekend when they seized the capital city Damascus, thus sealing the stunning fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's longstanding regime.

The president's last-ditch escape to Russia to avoid certain death at the hands of the rebels marked the end of some five decades of the Assad family's dynastic rule - and the end of a brutal 14-year civil war.

Mass celebrations erupted in Damascus on Sunday as hopeful civilians took to the streets to greet the insurgents who liberated thousands of prisoners from Assad's torturous jails.

All roads into Syria were also gridlocked as thousands more jubilant refugees flocked from neighbouring countries, desperate to return to their homes.

Now, after years of death and destruction, the war-torn nation is at a pivotal crossroads with the fate of its long-suffering population hanging in the balance.

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Police are standing guard outside the Syrian Embassy in London, where the opposition flag, which has three stars, has been taped to the front door.

The flag used by Bashar al Assad's regime, which has two stars, remains on a pole above the entrance.

Hundreds of Syrian refugees gathered at two border crossings in southern Turkey on Monday, eagerly anticipating their return home following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad´s government.

Many arrived at the Cilvegozu and Oncupinar border gates at daybreak, draped in blankets and coats. Some camped by the barriers of the border crossing, warming themselves with makeshift fires or resting on the cold ground. Many appear to be children and families.

The border crossings correspond to the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salameh gates on the Syrian side of the border.

Among those waiting at Cilvegozu was 28-year-old Muhammed Zin who voiced excitement at the prospect of returning to his homeland. He fled Damascus in 2016 and has been living and working in Istanbul.

'Assad was shooting us, killing us,' he told the Associated Press. 'I will return to Syria now. Thank God, the war is over,' he said.

Seer Ali, 18, who left Damascus six years ago, had been working in the nearby city of Gaziantep to support his mother and siblings back home.

'We are very happy, very happy. Not just me, but everyone, all of us Syrians here are very happy,' he said. 'Everyone will return, no one will stay here. They will all go to their families.'

The European Union has pleaded for a peaceful political transition in war-torn Syria after Islamist rebels deposed the country's dictator, Bashar al-Assad.

'Now more than ever, it is imperative that all stakeholders engage in an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned dialogue on all key issues to ensure an orderly, peaceful and inclusive transition,' the 27-nation bloc said today.

Egypt has condemned Israel's 'further occupation of Syrian lands' and views the Israeli military's movement into a buffer zone as an attempt to enforce a new reality on the ground, it said in a foreign ministry statement on Monday.

Israel moved tanks over the border into the buffer zone with Syria, calling the move temporary and limited and aimed at ensuring Israel's security.

The chilling cells of Saydnaya Prison have been revealed - as rebels continue to free prisoners held in the hellhole jail, dubbed the 'Human Slaughterhouse'.

The notorious prison near Damascus is synonymous with heinous torture, executions and human rights abuses carried out by the Assad regime, which was toppled by Syrian rebel forces this weekend.

Fresh pictures continue to come to light of al-Assad's dungeon of horrors, where Amnesty International claims dozens of people were secretly executed every week in Saydnaya, estimating that up to 13,000 Syrians were killed between 2011 and 2016.

Rope believed to have been used to hang inmates has been left piled on the floor. Crumbling jail cells can also be seen.

It comes as investigators continue to probe allegations of a secret compartment in jail, with some digging through concrete floors to reach the alleged lock away. .

It caused controversy at the time for its glowing review of Bashar Al Assad's wife Asma which hauntingly coincided with war breaking out in Syria over the former President's brutally repressive regime.

But Vogue's surprising profile of the former First Lady - who is thought to have been granted asylum in Moscow with her deposed husband - is likely to resurface in the minds of many following the collapse of the al-Assad family's iron rule after five decades.

However, few will be able to discover the full article, entitled 'A Rose in the Desert' and written by former French Vogue Editor Joan Juliet Buck, since shortly after it was published in the March 2011 edition of US Vogue, the feature suddenly vanished from the internet.

Despite being quickly pulled from the magazine's website, some snippets remain online, showcasing the way in which the embarrassing profile praised the Assads as a 'wildly democratic' family-focused couple who lived in the 'safest country in the Middle East'.

Syrian citizens are ripping down the statues of Hafez al-Assad, the father of the country's deposed president, Bashar al-Assad.

Enraged locals in Damascus toppled the statues before trampling and kicking them, after rebel forces ousted al-Assad's regime.

The al-Assad autocratic dynasty had ruled the nation for the best part of six decades.

However, it was beaten into submission following several weeks of fierce fighting, with al-Assad having now fled his country to seek asylum in Russia.

It’s understood that the UK played no supporting role in the overnight military action by the United States and Israel in Syria.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said Sir Keir discussed Syria with the UAE crown prince in Abu Dhabi this morning during his tour of the Middle East that takes him to Saudi Arabia later.

He repeated the PM’s comment that the people of Syria have suffered for ‘far too long’ and called for political solution.

And he said the UK was in discussions with regional allies about the Assad regime’s chemical weapons stocks and who is in control of them.

The spokesman declined to comment on whether HTS’s status as a proscribed terrorist organisation would be reviewed, but confirmed the UK will not communicate directly with the new government while it is proscribed.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been pictured arriving in the Middle East as part of his whirlwind three-day tour of the region.

The PM is due to visit Abu Dhabi, the UAE and Saudi Arabia on a trip that was originally intended to be banging the drum for British business.

He was greeted this morning during a ceremonial arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

But the end of Assad's rule has been dominating, with Sir Keir hailing it as a 'very good thing' - while urging the restoration of 'peace and security'.

Syria's infamous Saydnaya Prison has been revealed in a new photo captured from the air after the jal was liberated by anti-government rebel forces. .

The notorious prison near Damascus - nicknamed the 'Human Slaughterhouse' - is synonymous with heinous torture, executions and human rights abuses carried out by the Assad regime, which was toppled by Syrian rebel forces this weekend.

Amnesty International claims dozens of people were secretly executed every week in Saydnaya, estimating that up to 13,000 Syrians were killed between 2011 and 2016.

Lebanon's Hezbollah views events in Syria as a 'major, dangerous and new transformation', a senior Hezbollah politician said on Monday, the Iran-backed group's first reaction to the toppling of its ally Bashar al-Assad.

Hezbollah played a major part propping up Assad through years of war in Syria, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

His downfall has stripped Hezbollah of a vital ally along Lebanon's eastern border. Assad-ruled Syria long served as a vital conduit for Iran to supply weapons to the Shi'ite Islamist Hezbollah.

'What is happening in Syria is a major, dangerous and new transformation, and how and why what happened requires an evaluation, and the evaluation is not done on the podiums,' Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said in a statement.

A plane that was reportedly shot down before vanishing over Syria on Sunday was believed to be carrying its president and family as they fled the country, but Russia has denied claims the dictator was killed in a crash.

Flight-tracking website Flightradar 24 showed a plane believed to be carrying Bashar al-Assad leaving the Syrian capital Damascus in the early hours of Sunday morning and heading towards the Mediterranean Sea, before making a U-turn and disappearing from the map.

Reuters quickly reported that 'there was a very high probability that Assad may have been killed in a plane crash as it was a mystery why the plane took a surprise U-turn and disappeared,' citing two anonymous 'Syrian sources'.

But Russia has now called for the story to be retracted as it was locally reported that the Syrian leader had landed in Moscow and been granted asylum after the Syrian despot fled his country and resigned following the collapse of his regime.

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Syrian rebels have taken to the streets in military vehicles after overthrowing the country's dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Anti-government fighters were seen waving Islamic flags from on top of a tank in the capital city on Monday.

Others, carrying assault rifles, were spotted riding on top of a convoy of armoured personnel carriers.

It comes as Syrian civilians mass at Turkish border as they prepare to return home. Scores of families are waiting at the Cilvegozu border gate, near the town of Antakya.

Syria’s government is still functioning and is now communicating with rebel leaders, according to the nation's prime minister.

Mohammed Ghazi Jalali, who remained in post during the fall of Assad’s regime, has insisted most cabinet ministers continue to work from their offices in Damascus.

'We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth,' he told Sky News Arabia TV.

Syrians have flocked to the main square of the country's capital city, Damascus, to celebrate the downfall of Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian leader has been forced to flee to Russia with his family after rebels toppled his regime.

Today, scores of jubliant Syrians have been toasting the dictator's defeat - with crowds gathering at Umayyad Square.

President Assad, his British-born wife and their three adult children have left behind their Syrian palaces and will begin a new life in Russia after being granted asylum by Vladimir Putin.

Asma Al-Assad, a London-born doctor's daughter who married into the brutal autocratic dynasty, has become accustomed to a life of luxury, with reports that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on home furnishings and clothes during her husband's reign of terror.

The US state department estimates that the family are worth $2billion, with their wealth concealed in numerous accounts, shell companies, offshore tax havens and real estate portfolios.

Now they are likely to draw on their family connections and extensive assets in Moscow in the hope of keeping up their comfortable lifestyle in exile.

The Syrian dictator's extended family bought up at least 20 Moscow apartments worth more than £30 million in recent years, illustrating Russia's status as a safe haven for the clan.

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Jubilant Syrians flocked to London's Trafalgar Square yesterday to celebrate the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad as they vowed to return home.

Hundreds waved Syrian opposition flags and lit green flares in emotional scenes of ecstasy as people hugged one another after the fall of the Assad family's brutal 54 year dynasty rule in the country.

Chants of 'Mabrouk' (Congratulations) were heard after rebel soldiers stormed Syria's capital Damascus in a lightning offensive.

Commander Hasan Abdul Ghani wrote a message on X calling on displaced Syrians to return to their homeland.

'To the displaced all over the world, free Syria awaits you,' he wrote.

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A government minister has ruled out looking at whether Shamima Begum can return to the UK.

Begum, whose British citizenship was withdrawn on national security grounds in 2019, is believed to be living at the Al Roj, a filthy, brutal temporary tent city teeming with dangerous ISIS loyalists who use threats and beatings to enforce their extremist ideology.

With rebels advancing across Syria, concerns are growing the camp could be abandoned.

However, when asked whether the government may revisit the question of whether Begum should be allowed to return to Britain, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden told Sky News there were 'no plans to do that right now'.

The former East London schoolgirl, who moved to Syria to join ISIS in 2015 at the age of 15, lost an appeal last year against the decision to revoke her citizenship on national security grounds at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

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BBC world affairs editor John Simpson is facing a backlash after describing deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad as 'weak rather than wicked'.

The renowned journalist also said on Sunday he had found Assad 'meek' and the 'reverse of the traditional dictator' in person.

Writing on X, Mr Simpson said: 'Bashar al-Assad has done many evil things, but he's weak rather than wicked.

'His family members, Iran and especially Russia told him what to do, and he feebly did it. In person, I found him meek and anxious to please — the reverse of the traditional dictator.'

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The UK has had 'no request' to give refuge to the British wife of Bashar Assad, a minister said today.

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said the issue is 'not something that's been raised' with the Government as the world digests the sudden collapse of the Syrian regime.

Asma Assad was born in London in 1975, and was raised and educated in the city. She is now believed to be in Moscow with her husband, where the ousted autocrat has fled.

The rapid collapse of the Assad regime saw a coalition of rebel groups seize control of Damascus on Sunday.

Mr McFadden was asked by the BBC what the Government would do if Mrs Assad wanted to live in the UK.

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Keir Starmer is on a whirlwind tour of the Middle East today as the world reels from the dramatic downfall of the Syrian regime.

The PM is visiting Abu Dhabi, the UAE and Saudi Arabia on a trip that was originally intended to be banging the drum for British business.

But the end of Assad's rule has been dominating, with Sir Keir hailing it as a 'very good thing' - while urging the restoration of 'peace and security'.

Syrians have been celebrating the overthrow of Assad after 13 years of civil war sparked by the president's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters following the Arab Spring.

A coalition of rebels seized control of the capital Damascus in a lightning offensive overnight on Sunday, 11 days after launching a major operation.

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The mayhem falling the toppling of the Assad regime in Syria could trigger a ‘serious spike’ in the threat posed by Islamic State jihadists, the ex-head of MI6 has warned.

Sir Alex Younger said IS militants are currently being held by Kurdish groups in the east of the country, with assistance provided by some US troops.

However, he warned if the guards ‘go off the job’, it could allow terrorist detainees to escape – which could lead to them fleeing into Europe to carry out brutal attacks on key EU cities.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘For us, I think we need to be realistic. The reality, the one thing you know about Syria for sure, proven by history, is that attempts to impose change from the outside will not work.

‘This is very much a Syrian future for Syrians to decide and we should of course support anything that moves Syria towards a more positive state.

‘But we also have some hard interests and the primary one of those as I have said before is the existence of a very large number of Isis detainees left over from the destruction of the caliphate, currently contained by the Kurdish groups in the east.

‘But if they go off the job you can expect a serious spike in the threat posed to Europe by Isis.’

An 'iron press' that was allegedly used to crush and execute prisoners in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's infamous Saydnaya Prison has been revealed in new videos shared by rebels as they liberate inmates.

The notorious prison near Damascus - nicknamed the 'Human Slaughterhouse' - is synonymous with heinous torture, executions and human rights abuses carried out by the Assad regime, which was toppled by Syrian rebel forces this weekend.

Amnesty International claims dozens of people were secretly executed every week in Saydnaya, estimating that up to 13,000 Syrians were killed between 2011 and 2016.

Footage of what appears to be some kind of large hydraulic press within the prison is yet to be verified, but tales of torture, deprivation, starvation and executions at Saydnaya have been widely documented.

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The Assad family's secret escape tunnels have been revealed after Syrian rebels discovered the huge luxury underground network amid their raids.

A video claiming to show Major General Maher al-Assad's 'mansion' shows a white staircase cut into the floor, spiralling underground.

From there, it is another two staircases descending even further into the white-and-grey depths.

The footage, said to have been snapped by a rebel, then cuts to show a vast network of empty, wide tunnels with tall, curved ceilings.

Rebels broke into prisons and security facilities to free political prisoners and many of the tens of thousands of people who disappeared since the civil war began.

Bashar Barhoum, 63, was one of those prisoners who supposed to have been executed after being imprisoned for seven months.

'I haven't seen the sun until today,' Barhoum told The Associated Press. 'Instead of being dead tomorrow, thank God, he gave me a new lease of life.'

Videos shared widely across social media showed dozens of prisoners running in celebration after the insurgents released them, some barefoot and others wearing little clothing.

One of them screams in celebration after he finds out that the government has fallen.

Airstrikes were heard in Syria's capital city of Damascus in the early hours of Monday morning, reported CNN.

It is not clear who carried out the strikes.Reuters reported that Israel had conducted three airstrikes in the Syrian capital on Sunday.

The Syrian Embassy in Malaysia shared videos of people celebrating the fall of the Assad regime by honking horns and waving the Syrian flag from their vehicles.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Malaysia is home to nearly 3,000 Syrian refugees.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement Sunday saying the U.S. will support efforts to hold the Assad regime accountable.

'After 14 years of conflict, the Syrian people finally have reason for hope,' Blinken said.

'We will support international efforts to hold the Assad regime and its backers accountable for atrocities and abuses perpetrated against the Syrian people, including the use of chemical weapons and the unjust detention of civilians such as Austin Tice.'

Thousands of Syrians tried to begin the long journey back to their homes yesterday after the end of 13 years of civil war, with huge queues forming to get into the country.

Dramatic pictures showed hundreds of Syrians with bags and suitcases gathered on the Lebanese border hoping to cross back into their country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said there is already some evidence of Syrians returning.

It has verified 34,000 returning home in the first eight months of 2024 and says the 'actual figure may be significantly higher'.

'Spontaneous returns to Syria are expected to continue throughout 2025,' the UN refugee agency added in its assessment of the country.

Video footage shows traffic jams are cropping up in some areas as refugees scramble to return home.

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The UN Security Council will convene Monday afternoon for an emergency closed door meeting regarding Syria in the aftermath of president Bashar al-Assad fleeing the country, multiple diplomatic sources told AFP on Sunday.

The meeting, set for 3:00 pm (2000 GMT), was requested by Russia earlier on Sunday.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the defeat of al-Assad in Syria is proof that Russia and its allies can be defeated.

President Joe Biden said that American Journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped while reporting in Syria on August 13, 2012, is believed to be alive.

'We believe he's alive,' Biden said at a briefing following the fall of al-Assad's regime in Syria. 'We think we can get him back but we have no direct evidence of that yet.'

'And Assad has to be held accountable,' he insisted.

The families of Syrian prisoners are trying to find their loved ones after rebels released caged women, children and men.

An online video purported to show rebels freeing dozens of women at the notorious Saydnaya prison, where rights groups say thousands were tortured and killed. At least one small child was seen among them.

'This happiness will not be completed until I can see my son out of prison and know where is he,' said one relative, Bassam Masr. 'I have been searching for him for two hours. He has been detained for 13 years.'

Fakhira, whose son Abdo Sahwar is also believed to have been held in Saydnaya, told the Independent that her family is desperately trying to find out where Abdo is.

'My heart burns for him. Every day feels like a year. Waiting is worse than death, but it’s the only thing keeping me going,' she said.

'I had lost hope, but now my heart is racing with tension. I don’t know if I’ll find him alive. If I see him, I might die of joy.'

Syrian opposition leaders had agreed to guarantee the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions in Syria, a Kremlin source told state media.

But some Russian war bloggers said the situation around the bases was extremely tense and the source did not say how long the security guarantee lasted.

A deal to secure Russia's air base in Syria's Latakia province and its naval facility at Tartous on the coast would come as a relief to Moscow.The facility is Russia's only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub, and Moscow has used Syria as a staging post to fly its military contractors in and out of Africa.

Losing Tartous would be a serious blow to Russia's ability to project power in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Africa, say Western military analysts.

Influential Russian war blogger 'Rybar', who is close to the Russian Defence Ministry and has over 1.3 million followers on his Telegram channel, said the situation around the bases was a serious cause for concern whatever Moscow's official line.

'Russia's military presence in the Middle East region hangs by a thread,' Rybar said.

Rescuers are battling to liberate Syria's alleged hellhole the 'Red Prison', but rebels who freed caged women and children reportedly still can't access the men trapped.

Saydnayah Prison near Damascus - nicknamed the 'Human Slaughterhouse - is said to contain 'highly secured underground' cells in its Red Building.

Unverified footage reportedly shows rebels 'opening cells one by one' by breaking down walls, and they are said to have rescued 'hundreds of inmates, including women and young children'.

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Syrian rebels in control of Damascus have imposed a curfew on the city, beginning at 4pm local time and lasting until 5am tomorrow.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces conducted dozens of airstrikes on Islamic State targets in central Syria on Sunday.

In a statement, the CENTCOM said its strikes were aimed to ensure that the Islamic State does not take advantage of the current situation in Syria.

CENTCOM said in a statement: 'The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria.

'The operation struck over 75 targets using multiple U.S. Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s.'

A new map shows just how dramatically the murderous regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad collapsed in just days as rebel forces advanced in lightning strikes and seized power.

The now-exiled president, who has enforced a brutal crackdown on opposition forces for the past 13 years, appeared to be maintaining control of capital Damascus only last week.

Yet as jubilant critics of Assad's brutal regime have been celebrating today his abrupt departure from office - and the country - it has now emerged how swiftly his fall came about.

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US President Joe Biden has called the fall of Bashar al-Assad a 'moment of historic opportunity' during a press conference after Syrian rebels liberated Damascus.

In the first full US reaction to Assad's overthrow by an Islamist-led coalition of rebel factions, Biden expressed optimism. However, he also warned that Washington would 'remain vigilant' against the emergence of terrorist groups.

'The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice,' Biden said, speaking from the White House. 'It's a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria.'

But Biden cautioned that hardline Islamist groups within the victorious rebel alliance will be under scrutiny. 'Some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human right abuses,' Biden said.

The United States had 'taken note' of recent statements by rebels suggesting they had since moderated, he said, but cautioned: 'We will assess not just their words, but their actions.'

Biden said Washington is 'clear eyed' that the Islamic State extremist group, often known as ISIS, 'will try to take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish' itself in Syria.

'We will not let that happen,' he said, adding that on Sunday alone, US forces had conducted 'a dozen' strikes against ISIS inside Syria.

Al-Assad reportedly fled Syria on a Russian plane.

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed that a plane from Latakia, west Syria, arrived in Moscow a few hours ago, the BBC reports. Latakia is home to a Russian air force base.

Bashar al-Assad's location has been revealed after the Syrian despot fled his country and resigned following the collapse of his regime.

Al-Assad and his family have arrived in Russia and have been granted asylum in Moscow, Russian state media claimed, citing a Kremlin source.

The Interfax news agency quoted the unnamed source as saying: 'President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds.'

Israeli forces have seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

It came after a lightning rebel advance early on Sunday ended Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Mr Netanyahu said the decades-old agreement had collapsed and Syrian troops had abandoned their positions, necessitating the Israeli takeover to protect Israeli residents.

Israel's military later warned residents of five southern Syria communities to stay home for their safety.

It did not respond to further requests for comment.

Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it. The international community, except for the United States, views it as occupied Syrian territory.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday hailed the end of Syria's 'dictatorial regime' and urged the country to rebuild after president Bashar al-Assad's sudden fall. Guterres said in a statement:

After 14 years of brutal war and the fall of the dictatorial regime, today the people of Syria can seize an historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future. I reiterate my call for calm and avoiding violence at this sensitive time, while protecting the rights of all Syrians, without distinction."

Iran's foreign ministry said in statement that Iran respects Syria's unity and national sovereignty and called for 'the swift end of military conflicts, the prevention of terrorist actions, and the commencement of national dialogue' with all sectors of Syrian society.

Tehran said it would continue to support international mechanisms for pursuing the political process, adding that long-standing and friendly relations between the Iranian and Syrian nations are expected to continue.

As the sunsets in Damascus, reports are emerging of massive explosions being heard across the capital.

This follows prewvious reports that Israel has struck government secuirty buildings in the city.

BBC News has reported currently unverifed claims that Israel had struck a major security complex in the Kafr Sousa district along with a research centre where it had previously said Iranian scientists developed missiles.

This is the heartbreaking moment a toddler is seen walking out of a Syrian prison cell inside tyrant President Bashar al-Assad's 'human slaughterhouse'.

The little boy stands by the unlocked cell doors looking confused as rebel soldiers shout 'Allahu Akbar' - meaning 'God is greatest' - as they free hundreds of inmates.

The military prison near Damascus dubbed the 'industrial torture chamber ' has reportedly seen between 5,000 to 13,000 inmates hanged since 2011, according to AlJazeera.

Read the full story below.

Celebrations have erupted around Syria and crowds ransacked President Bashar al-Assad's luxurious home on Sunday after Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus and declared he had fled the country, in a spectacular end to five decades of Baath party rule.

Assad's whereabouts were not clear, but his key backer Russia said he had resigned from the presidency and left Syria.

Residents in the capital were seen cheering in the streets as the rebel factions heralded the departure of 'tyrant' Assad, saying: 'We declare the city of Damascus free.'

AFPTV footage showed a column of smoke rising from central Damascus, and AFP correspondents in the city saw dozens of men, women and children wandering through Assad's home after it had been looted.

The rooms of the residence had been left completely empty, save some furniture and a portrait of Assad discarded on the floor, while an entrance hall at the presidential palace not far away had been torched.

'I can't believe I'm living this moment,' tearful Damascus resident Amer Batha told AFP by phone.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is the one of the largest oppositon forces in the Syrian civil war and are the group responsible for the lighting offensive that toppled the Assad regime after over 50 years in power.

HTS is a group of allied factions that was founded at the start of the civil war as Jabhat al-Nusra.

It was originally formed by ISIS in 2012 but it split from the terrorist organisation a year later and allied iself with al-Qaeda instead.

They then severed ties with sal-Qaeda in 2017 and joined other facitons to form HTS.

It is understood that HTS has around 30,000 fighters.

The group is largely self-funded using natural resources - such as petroleum - as a signifcant source of income.

Before the capitulation of the Assad regime, HTS already controlled large swathes of Syria including the city of Idlib.

Pictured: The leader of HTS Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

Addressing crowds at Damascus' Umayyad mosque, The leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - Abu Mohammed al-Jolani - has promised that his victory is for 'all Syrians.'

He said Assad's regime 'imprisoned thousands of its own citizens unjustly and without any crime', adding that 'today, we are rewarded with this victory. This victory is for all Syrians.'

US President Joe Biden will meet today with his national security advisors to discuss the collapse of the Assad regime.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, National Security Council spokesman Sean Savet said: 'The President will meet with his national security team this morning to receive an update on the situation in Syria.'

The leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - Abu Mohammed al-Jolani - hasa been pictured in Damascus' Umayyad Moasque.

It has been reported that Israeli strikes have targeted government security buildings in Damascus.

The strikes come just hours after Assad fled the country and rebels entered the capital.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: 'Israeli strikes targeted a security complex in Damascus near the former regime's buildings" including intelligence, customs and a military headquarters.'

The leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that headed a lightning rebel offensive that caused the collapse of the Assad regime has been spotted in Damascus

AFP reported that HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani was seen vsitng the capital's landmark Umayyad Moasque earlier today.

Now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, it has been reported that crowds cheered as he entered the mosque and while he gave a speech chants of 'Allahu akbar' were heard.

Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the fall of Bashar Assad's 'barbaric regime' in Syria.

The Prime Minister has called for the restoration of 'peace and stability' and for all sides to protect civilians and ensure aid can reach the vulnerable.

Overnight on Sunday, a lightning rebel offensive seized control of Damascus, the Syrian capital, and president Mr Assad is reported to have fled.

The UK Government has been evacuating its citizens over the weekend before the situation reached a crisis point.

The Prime Minister said:

The developments in Syria in recent hours and days are unprecedented, and we are speaking to our partners in the region and monitoring the situation closely. The Syrian people have suffered under Assad's barbaric regime for too long and we welcome his departure. Our focus is now on ensuring a political solution prevails, and peace and stability is restored. We call on all sides to protect civilians and minorities, and ensure essential aid can reach the most vulnerable in the coming hours and days.

The deputy prime minister has today welcomed the fall of Assad's regime, as she hit out at his brutal regime amid the fall of Damascus.

Angela Rayner told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that Assad 'wasn't exactly good to the Syrian people'.

'The situation looks very serious and if (the) Assad regime has fallen, then I welcome that news, but what we need to see is a political resolution in line with the UN resolutions,' she said.

Read the full story below.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the ousting of al-Assad as an 'historic day'.

The Israeli Prime Minister said the fall of Assad, a major link in the Iranian axis, is a direct result of blows dealt to Hezbollah and Iran by Israel.

'We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,' he added.

Writing on his official X account, Netanyahu said the 'collapse of the tyranny in Damascus' offers 'great opportunity' but warned it was 'fraught with significant dangers'.

Thousands of Syrians have taken to the streets in Berlin to celebrate the end of Assad's brutal rule.

One of the demonstrators was dressed as Santa Claus as people waved Syrian flags after rebel soldiers stormed the capital Damascus.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today welcomed the fall of Bashar al-Assad as 'good news' and urged a political solution to stabilise for the war-stricken country.

'Bashar al-Assad oppressed his people brutally. He has countless lives on his conscience and has driven numerous people to flee, many of whom have arrived in Germany,' Scholz said in a statement.

Women and children have been freed from despot President Bashar al-Assad's 'human slaughterhouse' prison as Syrian rebels seize power of the country.

The military prison near Damascus dubbed the 'industrial torture chamber ' has reportedly seen between 5,000 to 13,000 inmates hanged since 2011, according to AlJazeera.

Rebel soldiers could be heard shouting 'Allahu Akbar' - meaning 'God is great' - as they frantically cut through padlocks on jail cell doors at Saydnaya prison to free hundreds of female prisoners and their youngsters.

Read the full story below.

Supporters of the Syrian rebels that ousted President Bashar al-Assad entered the Syrian embassy in Athens on Sunday and hoisted the rebel flag from the rooftop, police and a Reuters reporter said.

Police entered the embassy compound and detained four people, but left the flag flying.

Dozens of Syrians living in Germany have gathered on the streets to celebrate the collapse of Assad's regime.

Around 1.2million Syrians have moved to Germany over the course of the 13 year civil war.

Under the premiership of Chancellor Angela Merkel the country allowed millions of refugees from the war torn nation to settle in Syria.

The EU's top diplomat on Sunday hailed the fall of Syria's Bashar al-Assad and said it pointed to the weakness of some of his supporters, including Russia.

'The end of Assad's dictatorship is a positive and long-awaited development. It also shows the weakness of Assad's backers, Russia and Iran,' Kaja Kallas said in a post on X.

She added that the EU's priority was to 'ensure security' in the region and pledged to work with "all the constructive partners" in Syria and more broadly across the area.

'The process of rebuilding Syria will be long and complicated and all parties must be ready to engage constructively,' she said

Syrian refugeese in Lebanon have flocked to the border following the collapse of the Syrian government.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 nearly 1.5million refugees have resided in Lebanon.

With the collapse of Assad's regime many have been pictured flocking to the Syria-Lebanon border in order to return home.

Leaders from the Middle East and across the world have shared their reaction to the collapse of Assad's regime in Syria.

In a statement, the King of Jordan said he spports 'Syrian brothers' and 'respect their wills.'

King Abdullah II told his National Security Council that there was a 'need to protect Syria's security, its citizens' and to work towards 'stability and avoid any conflict that may lead to chaos.'

Meanwhile, in Doha, the Qatar Foreign Ministry issued a warning that Syria must not descend 'into chaos'.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the fall of Bashar al-Assad as 'good news' and urged a political solution to stabilise for the war-stricken country.

'Bashar al-Assad oppressed his people brutally. He has countless lives on his conscience and has driven numerous people to flee, many of whom have arrived in Germany,' Scholz said in a statement.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said: 'The end of Assad's dictatorship is a positive and long-awaited development. It also shows the weakness of Assad's backers, Russia and Iran.'

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the HTS-led coalition that toppled Bashar al-Assad, said in an address to Syrian TV that 'the future is ours.'

He added that there was 'no room for turning back', and that his HTS group was 'determines' to continue down the path it took in 2011 at the start of the brutal civil war.

The fall of the Assad regime is the perfect opportunity to release the Syrian people from decades of human rights violations, Amnesty International's secretary general today said.

Agnès Callamard, the organisation's chief, said in a statement today: 'After over five decades of brutality and repression, the people of Syria may finally have an opportunity to live free of fear with their rights respected.

'Under the rule of Bashar al-Assad - and before him his father Hafez al-Assad - Syrians have been subjected to a horrifying catalogue of human rights violations that caused untold human suffering on a vast scale.

'This included attacks with chemical weapons, barrel bombs and other war crimes, as well as murder, torture, enforced disappearance and extermination that amount to crimes against humanity. This historic opportunity must be now be seized and decades of grave human rights violations redressed.

'Amnesty calls on opposition forces to break free from the violence of the past. The most important step is justice, and not retribution. We urge all parties to the present conflict to fully respect the laws of armed conflict.'

Olaf Scholz said in a statement today: 'Bashar al-Assad brutally oppressed his own people, has countless lives on his conscience and has driven numerous people to flee Syria, many of whom came to Germany. The Syrian people have suffered terribly. The end of Assad’s rule over Syria is therefore good news.

'What matters now is that law and order are quickly restored in Syria. All religious communities, all minorities must enjoy protection now and in the future. A political solution to the conflict in Syria in accordance with UN security council Resolution 2254 is still possible.

'We will judge the future rulers by whether they make it possible for all Syrians to live in dignity and self-determination, defend Syria’s sovereignty against malicious interference by third parties and live in peace with their neighbours.'

Turkey's foreign minister Hakan Fidan told Syrian refugees who have called Turkey home for the last decade to go back to their country.

He said at a conference in Doha, Qatar: 'Millions of Syrians who were forced to leave their homes can return to their land.'

He added that it was 'time to unite and reconstruct the country.'

Militia fighters entered the residence of the Italian ambassador to Syria on Sunday, leaving him and his security detail unharmed, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said, as reported by ANSA and other domestic news agencies.

ANSA quoted Italian ministry sources as saying that Syrian fighters were going into embassies and offices of international NGOs in a search for allies of President Bashar al-Assad, who rebels say has been deposed.

'This morning an armed group entered the garden of the ambassador's residence. They took away only three cars and that was it. Neither the ambassador nor the Carabinieri (embassy police) were harmed,' Tajani said.

The ambassador and the police officers have been moved to a secure location, the minister added.

Dr. Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow of Middle East security at RUSI, exclusively told MailOnline that Russia's ability to project power in Syria and the wider region as been 'severely debilitated.'

The expert said: 'It is in Russia's interest to seek to maintain access, but its ability to project power in and through Syria is now severely debilitated.

'It will take time and negotiations with the new Syrian administration, a yet to be determined entity, before it is clear what Russia's stakes in Syria will be. But this is now a radically transformed Syria, and Russia has no good options.'

She added that Iran will also be heavily affected by the overthrow of Assad.

'There is no doubt that the fall of the Assad regime is a highly consequential defeat for Iran, the implications of which will unfold in ripples and waves. Syria was the conduit for Iran's systematic support for Hezbollah in Lebanon, this supply chain has now been cut off.'

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had left office and departed the country after giving orders there be a peaceful handover of power.

In a statement, the ministry did not say where Assad was now and said Russia has not taken part in the talks around his departure.

'As a result of negotiations between B. Assad and a number of participants in the armed conflict on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, he decided to resign from the presidency and left the country, giving instructions for a peaceful transfer of power.

'Russia did not participate in these negotiations,' the ministry said.

Hezbollah pulled all of its forces out of Syria on Saturday, Reuters reported.

Russia's deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin has today confirmed that Bashar al-Assad has left Syria.

He added that Moscow is alarmed by the developments in the country, and that ther is no risk of Russian bases in the region being harmed.

The Times of Israel has reported that Israel has struck several military targets in Syria, including at the Mazzeh airbase in Damascus.

Syrian media reported that Israeli struck airbass in the Daraa and Suwayda areas in southern Syria.

The strikes reportedly targeted ammo and weapons depots at the Khalkhalah airbase in Suwayda, several sites in the Daraa Governorate and the Mezzeh airbase.

The IDF has not yet commented on the matter.

Explosions have been heard in Syria in the Mazzeh area of Damascus.

While the source of the explosions is not currently known, Mazzeh is home to a military airport and the Al Akram mosque.

Germany's top diplomat called the fall of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad 'a great relief' for the people of war-torn country, while warning against radicalisation.

'The end of Assad represents for millions of people in Syria a great relief,' said Annalena Baerbock.

She added: 'The country must not now fall into the hands of other radicals, whatever form they take.'

Turkish sources have told Reuters that Syrian rebels are at the hear of Manjib, a northern Syrian city controlled by Kurdish forces.

Lebanon has sent reinforced units to the northern and eastern borders in response to the ongoing military developments in Syria, the Lebanese army said today.

Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, told Sky News tofay that Assad's fall will be a 'surprise' to Britain's intelligence services.

He said: 'I think it was a surprise to everyone, it probably came as a surprise to Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which have been the main rebel group involved in this march on Damascus, I don’t think they expected to go so far so fast.

'I think we’re all surprised at how the regime forces have just completely collapsed, even those most loyal to the regime and closest to the regime... It’s not a failure of intelligence, it’s a surprise to everyone.'

He added that it would be 'rather ridiculous' for the UK to engage with HTS, a proscribed terror group.

The country's foreign ministry said in a statement today: 'A new page is being written in the history of Syria, to inaugurate a national covenant and charter that unites the word of the Syrians, unites them and does not divide them, in order to build one homeland in which justice and equality prevail and in which everyone enjoys all rights and duties, far from a single opinion.

'Citizenship is the basis.

'The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic and its diplomatic missions abroad will remain committed to serving all fellow citizens and managing their affairs, based on the trust they bear in representing the Syrian people, and that the homeland remains supreme.'

Hakan Fidan, Turkey's foreign minister, said today that his country was in contact with the rebels who overthrew Bashar al-Assad to ensure continued security.

Iraq has secured its entire border with Syria, an army spokesperson told local media today.

Yehia Rasool, spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief, said the border has been heavily fortified, and that reinforcements are on hand to support in the event of an overspill of military action

Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to the President of the UAE, told the BBC: 'We don’t know the shape of developments in Syria. Is this going to be a sort of wiser group that will be able actually to transcend Syria’s tortured history or are we going to go back into a re-incarnation of radical and terrorist organisations?

'I think Syria is still not out of the woods because Syria is still, if you look at the different colours, is still a very patchy picture in terms of its territorial integrity.'

Gargash also blamed Assad for the fall of his regime, saying the dictator did not implement the necessary political reforms for his nation.

He said: 'Ultimately this was a huge political failure. We have seen the rapid collapse of the regime in part because of the political failure.

'There was a major failure in the part of politics and policy. Assad did not really use the lifeline that was thrown to him by various Arab countries including the UAE and did not use that to open up, to move on the constitutional discussions that were taking place. He also did not open up to Turkey.'

Syria's decade-long civil war has descended further into bloodshed, as rebels announced a major attack against Kurdish forces hours after toppling Assad's murderous regime.

The Ministry of Defence of the Syrian Interim Government, an opposition coalition group that controls some parts of the country and helped HTS in its push for control of Syria, published a statement today that said it was attacking Kurdish forces in the northern city of Manjib.

It said in the statement, which was dated December 7: 'The Syrian National Army forces are determined to liberate the city of Manbij from the separatist PKK gang after years.

'Because of its occupation of the city, it has practised all forms of terrorism against civilians of all affiliations and nationalities.

'Our Kurdish people: The military action has begun and its goal is to eliminate the separatist group in northern Syria so that you can live with the rest of the Syrian people in freedom and dignity in this country that can accommodate all its people.

'Therefore, we recommend that during military actions you stay in your homes and stay away from the military sites belonging to the terrorist PKK party, so that you will be in peace and safety.'

The Syrian National Army is made up of a series of Turkey-backed militias.

The coalition army has sided with and against HTS countless times. The militias are keen on introducing a northern buffer zone with the Turkish border, with an aim to keep Kurdish militants away.

Syrians will have to cope with a full-scale civil war alone, Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy chairman of Russia's upper house of parliament said on Sunday, the Interfax news agency reported.

Syrian rebels announced on state television on Sunday that they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad, eliminating a 50-year family dynasty in a lightning offensive that raises the spectre of a new wave of instability in a Middle East gripped by war.

Russia, a staunch Assad ally, intervened decisively in 2015 to prop him up during Syria's civil war, which began in 2011.

Russian war bloggers have raised fears about the fate of two strategically-important Russian military facilities in Syria.

The Chinese government has assisted citizens in leaving Syria, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

It said Syria should ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and personnel and that China's embassy in Syria continues to operate.

The US said today it will maintain a heavy presence in eastern Syria following the fall of Assad's regime.

Deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, Daniel Shapito, told attendees at a Bahrain security conference that the US would also take measures to prevent an ISIS resurgence in the country.

British deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has welcomed the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

She added that she wanted to see a political resolution to the decade-long conflict.

She told Sky News' Trevor Phillips: 'The situation looks very serious and if (the) Assad regime has fallen, then I welcome that news, but what we need to see is a political resolution in line with the UN resolutions. We need to see civilians and infrastructure protected, far too many people have lost their lives, we need stability in that region.'

She added: 'The Foreign Secretary and obviously our Foreign Office are working. You'll have heard last week, the Foreign Secretary was very clear about UK civilians leaving Syria.

'We've had a plan to ensure that people were evacuated ahead of what's happened over the weekend and we continue to support our UK nationals.'

Rayner later said President Bashar al-Assad 'wasn't exactly good to the Syrian people, adding: 'Dictatorship and terrorism creates problems for the people of Syria, who have faced so much already and also destabilises the region.

'That's why we have to have a political solution where the government is acting in the interests of the Syrian people.'

Russia's embassy in Syria has said its staff are 'fine', after the embassy of Iran was raided by furious rebels.

A Russian embassy staff member told TASS, a Kremlin-owned news agency: 'We are fine.'

Russia has played a key role in the Syrian civil war, providing missiles and logistical support to Assad's regime

Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali, the prime minister of Syria under Assad's government, has been escorted from his Damascus hotel room following the fall of the previous regime.

CNN reported that a man can be heard saying in the video: 'The former prime minister is with the 5th Corps from the people of Hauran heading to the Four Seasons Hotel for a meeting and to hand over the country’s institutions to the heroes of the Free Army.'

Earlier, al-Jalali said he wanted to 'ensure' the operation of public functions, state facilities and to preserve the 'safety and security for all citizens.'

Syrian rebels have started an attack on Kurdish forces in the northern Syrian town of Manjib, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defence of the Syrian Interim Government.

While the statement was posted this morning, it was dated December 7

Iran has evacuated its embassy in Syria and moved staff to Lebanon, minutes after reports emerged that Iran's emabssy was stormed by rebels in Damascus.

Rebels have stormed Iran's embassy in Syria's capital, Damascus, according to local media.

Iran has long supported Assad's iron grip on the country, particularly during the civil war when it provided money, training and troops to Assad to fight for him.

Mazloum Abdi, commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led alliance that was backed by the West during the country's civil war, said today: 'We are living through historic moments as we witness the fall of the authoritarian regime in Damascus.

'This change presents an opportunity to build a new Syria based on democracy and justice that guarantees the rights of all Syrians.'

The rebels who overthrew Assad's government have said they are working to complete the transfer of power to a transitional government.

The rebel coalition said in a statement: 'The great Syrian revolution has moved from the stage of struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build a Syria together that befits the sacrifices of its people.'

Syrians in the city of Tartus have toppled a statue of Assad's father.

Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria with an iron fist from 1971 to 2000, before power was handed to his son Bashar.

Hafez was known for ordering the torture of prisoners, as well as the mass repression of his nation's people.

Israel's military has entered the demilitarized zone between the Syria in the Golan Height to protect civilians, the military said.

The military said in a statement that the deployment was aimed to put Israeli forces between rebel groups that have taken parts of the Syrian Golan Heights and Israeli communities on the border.

Most of Syria's Golan Heights region was occupied by Israel in 1967 before it was annexed in 1981.

In their first statement to Syrians on state TV, a group of rebels appeared on state TV and proclaimed Damascus as being liberated.

Dressed in civilian clothing, the man said: 'The tyrant Bashar al Assad has been toppled.

'All the prisoners have been released from the prison of Damascus. We wish all our fighters and citizens preserve and maintain the property of the state of Syria. Long live Syria.'

Videos shared to social media show people on the streets of Damascus celebrating the end of the Assad regime.

Gunfire can be heard ringing out among the streets as groups gather around what appears to be military vehicles.

CNN are reporting that there is an active search underway for President Assad with rebels questioning his military and intelligence officials.

A sources told the outlet that they are trying to pinpoint his movements, after he reportedly fled the capital by jet on Sunday morning.

The president hasn't been seen or heard from since rebels stormed the capital city, according to the outlet.

AlJazeera have reported that they are seeing people gathering at the Syrian border with Lebanon.

The outlet said they are waiting for it to open so they can return to their homes as the regime collapsed on Sunday morning.

An anonymous US official has told CNN that the events in Syria have marked the end of 'Iran's artifice' across the Middle East.

The end of the Iran-backed Assad regime comes after Hezbollah and Hamas were decimated by Israeli forces over the last 14 months.

President Bashar al-Assad fled the nation to an unknown destination in the early hours of Sunday morning as rebel forces swept Damascus.

He had announced that he would address the nation at 8pm local time on Saturday, but never did.

His children and British-born wife fled to Russia last week, and his brothers-in-law allegedly travelled to the UAE, per Syrian security officials.

The leader of the largest insurgent group in Syria has prohibited his fighters from getting close to state institutions saying they will remain under the supervision of the country´s prime minister at the present time.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, also banned his fighters from opening fire in the air in the capital Damascus.

In a statement, he said: 'Public institutions will remain under the supervision of the prime minister until they are officially handed over.'

Al-Golani's comments came as Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said he is extending his hand to the opposition adding that he wants to guarantee that state institutions function.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani speaks in a video statement, in this still image taken from a video released on December 8, 2024

Individuals can be seen throwing up the peace sign as they celebrate the end of the Assad government in the early horus of Sunday morning in Damascus.

The leader of the opposition in Syria Hadi al-Bahra has told the Arabic news organization Al-Arabiya that the Assad regime has fallen.

He told the outlet that a 'dark era in Syria's history has passed' after declaring to the people: 'I announce to you the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime'.

Bahra added: 'The situation is safe, and there is no room for revenge or retaliation.'

The Syrian Administration of Political Affairs, an arm of the opposition, has said in a statement that they will work for all Syrians.

They said: 'The liberation of Syria is a victory for all of its children who have sacrificed for the unity of its land and people.

'In this occasion, we assert our commitment to strengthening social unity and confirming the principles of justice and dignity for all the components of Syrian society.'

Israeli tanks have reportedly crossed the Syrian-Israeli border as part of prior plans to ensure a safe zone between the border of the nations.

Political anaylst Eva Koulouriotis posted on X that a security source had confirmed the ground offense to her.

The Israeli Air Force has reportedly carried out attacks against weapons depots, chemical weapons stores and laboratories near Damascus.

According to political anaylst Eva Koulouriotis, a security source confirmed to her that the facilites were hit.

HTS, the group leading the rebel offensive in Syria, is a powerful Islamist organisation that has maintained de facto control of Idlib for several years.

The group, led by Abu Mohammad al-Julani, solidified in 2017 as a conglomeration of various Islamist factions but traces its roots to al-Qaeda.

HTS' core component arose from a group once known as Jabhat al-Nusra - al-Qaeda's Syrian branch - but later sought to reposition itself as a legitimate Syrian nationalist organisation.

It officially severed ties with al-Qaeda and created a civilian arm known as the 'Salvation Government' through which it seeks to govern in Syria, insisting it has no ambition to expand beyond the nation's borders.

Initial reports from civilians in Aleppo have appeared to suggest that HTS militants have treated inhabitants well after ousting Syrian government forces.

But there are suspicions that HTS' jihadist origins remain and it is still designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), US, UK and the EU, among others.

National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement that President Biden was keeping an eye on the situation.

He said: 'President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners.'

Syria's army command has notified officers that al-Assad's 24-year authoritarian rule has ended.

The rebels said in a statement that they had liberated those being kept inside the notorious Saydnaya Military Prison.

The military prison near Damascus dubbed the 'industrial torture chamber ' has reportedly seen between 5,000 to 13,000 inmates hanged since 2011, according to AlJazeera.

Amnesty International research said the Syrian authorities had committed crimes against humanity with thousands of inmates in the prison 30km north of Damascus being murdered, tortured, and exterminated.

They determined that the violations committed at the brutal facilities over the last decade under dictator's Bashar al Assad regime, which has seen over 10,000 political detainees vanish, was part of an attack against civilians.

The rebels said in a statement on their Telegram channel that hundreds of Assad forces have given themselves up to rebels in Deir al-Zour, a city in eastern Syria.

Images inside Damascus airport early on Sunday morning local time shows dozens of people passing through security checkpoints and running to departure gates.

It appears that the airport is largely unstaffed and flight monitoring websites also showed no departures scheduled.

Rebel forces have said Syria is now 'free' and that the 'tyrant' President Bashar al-Assad has fled.

The HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham) said on Telegram that it was the end of a dark era and the beginning of a new one.

The rebels said that people displaced or imprisoned under the half-century reign of Assad can now come home.

HTS said it will be a 'new Syria' where 'everyone lives in peace and justice prevails'.

Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali has said he does not plan on leaving his home in teh capital to ensure that public institutions continue to function.

He said: 'I urge all to think rationally and to think about the country. We extend our hand to the opposition who have extended their hand and asserted that they will not harm anyone who belongs to this country.'

Ghazi added that he was ready to cooperate with whoever Syrians choose to lead the nation in a recording heard by The New York Times.

Video footage shared online and verified by Al Jazeera show several people in Ummayad Square standing on an abandoned military tank.

The group are singing in celebration as rebels swarmed the capital in the early hours of Sunday morning, local time.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters.

A Syrian Air plane 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.

It remains unclear exactly who was on board the flight.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad listens to a question during an exclusive interview with AFP in the capital Damascus on February 11, 2016

DailyMail.com will be providing live updates this evening as rebel fighters in Syria enter the capital of Damascus.

The move takes them to the brink of a victory as Syrian forces and their leader, President Bashar al-Assad appear to flee the crumbling capital.

On Saturday evening local time, opposition forces took the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, as government forces abandoned it.

The city stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria's coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus - the Syrian leader´s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.

The rebels had already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south in a lightning offensive that began on November 27.