Syrian capital falls to rebels as al-Assad leaves Syria

DAMASCUS -- Armed opposition forces seized full control of Damascus on Sunday, ending over five decades of the Assad family rule.

The rapid fall of President Bashar al-Assad's government followed an intense rebel offensive spanning less than two weeks. The campaign culminated in the opposition's announcement that Assad had fled the capital and relinquished power.

Later in the day, Russian state media announced that Assad had landed in Moscow, and was granted asylum along with his family.

Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Assad had "decided to leave the presidential post and left the country, giving instructions to transfer power peacefully."

In Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) head Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, spearheading the lightning assault, said Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jallali, appointed prime minister by al-Assad in September, would temporarily oversee public institutions.

Al-Jolani instructed opposition forces in Damascus to refrain from approaching public institutions and banned celebratory gunfire.

Al-Jallali, the prime minister, also called on Syrians to protect public facilities, saying they belonged to all citizens. "We extend our hands to every Syrian citizen committed to safeguarding the country's resources," Al-Jallali said in a televised address. "Syria belongs to all Syrians, and I urge everyone to think rationally about the nation's best interests."

However, crowds of people stormed the house of Assad and two presidential palaces amid recorded cases of looting. Abandoned arms left by Syrian soldiers were taken by young men. The Iranian embassy in Damascus was also stormed by armed militants.

The military command of the opposition imposed a curfew starting from afternoon till the next day while issuing warnings and threatening jail penalties against looters and those firing guns in the air.

In midst of the upheaval, Israel mounted a series of unprecedented airstrikes, hitting former Syrian security and military sites in Damascus and Quneitra repeatedly within a single day, according to local reports.

Some of these strikes targeted abandoned army positions and facilities previously associated with the now-defunct Fourth Division near Damascus. Israeli ground forces also reportedly pushed into parts of Jabal al-Sheikh, taking over old surveillance posts without opposition.

Meanwhile, the Syrian National Coalition, an alliance of opposition groups formed in exile following the 2011 uprising against Assad, vowed Sunday to continue working towards the transfer of authority to a transitional governing body with full executive powers, with the goal of ushering in a free, democratic, and pluralistic Syria.