9th December 2024
By Idris Buba
After years of violent struggles, there was a historic turn of events in Syrian on Sunday, as rebels seized the capital Damascus unopposed bringing an abrupt end to six-decade-long dominance of the Assad family and President Bashar al-Assad’s 13-year rule.
The rebels advance sent Assad fleeing to Russia, which had granted him and his family asylum.
With Syria, now in the hands of a rebel coalition partly backed by Turkey, the collapse of Assad’s government marks a major geopolitical shift and a diminished influence of Iran and Russia in the region .
Syrians, are hopeful that the Assad’s government sudden fall brings an end to a devastating civil war that left hundreds of thousands dead, cities in ruins, and millions displaced across the Middle East and beyond.
Rebel leader Abu al-Golani, hadin a jubilant speech at Damascus’s historic Umayyad Mosque, declared the dawn of a new era for Syrians.
“How many people were displaced across the world? How many people lived in tents? How many drowned in the seas?” al-Golani told a huge crowd at the medieval Umayyad Mosque in central Damascus, referring to refugees who died trying to reach Europe,
“A new history, my brothers, is being written in the entire region after this great victory,” he said, adding that with hard work Syria would be “a beacon for the Islamic nation”.
READ MORE; Guinea military leader promotes self to army general
The Assad regime’s notorious police state disintegrated overnight. Freed political prisoners poured out of jails, rejoicing in the streets. Residents walked freely into the presidential palace, with some leaving carrying furniture.
The fall of Assad, long supported by Moscow and Tehran, is a major blow to their strategic ambitions in the region, including Iran’s ability to arm its allies and Russia’s naval presence in the Mediterranean.
While United States President Joe Biden welcomed Assad’s ouster he however, warned that the change is unpredictable.
