Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was on Sunday compelled to flee the nation after rebels seized the capital Damascus, ending his 24-year rule. Because the information broke concerning the rebels getting into Damascus, hypothesis grew concerning the whereabouts of the 59-year-old chief, who had for years taken assist from his allies like Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to take care of his energy.

Initially, there have been studies that he had boarded a airplane early on Sunday in Damascus for an unknown vacation spot. The information company Reuters reported {that a} Syrian airplane took off from Damascus airport across the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels.

The plane initially flew in direction of Syria’s coastal area, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect and residential to 2 key Russian army bases, however then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the wrong way for a couple of minutes earlier than disappearing off the map.

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Citing two Syrian sources, Reuters stated the sudden change in course and disappearance of the airplane from monitoring may point out it had been shot down, or that it had switched off its transponder. It was not clear who was on board.

Nonetheless, after over 12 hours of hypothesis, it was reported that Assad is in Moscow together with his household and that Russia has granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds.

“Breaking information! Bashar al-Assad and his household in Moscow. Russia doesn’t betray pals in tough conditions,” Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to worldwide organisations in Vienna, stated on his Telegram messaging channel.

Final week, Assad’s allies Iran and Russia had additionally requested their residents to go away Syria, citing the deteriorating safety state of affairs.

Bashar al-Assad’s authorities fell 11 days after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group challenged greater than 5 many years of his household rule with a lightning offensive.

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The rebels started their operation on November 27, the identical day a ceasefire passed off in neighbouring Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah members, and shortly went on to grab key cities of Aleppo and Hama. They then took management of Damascus on Sunday to place an finish to the Assad regime.