Syrian rebels seize control over Damascus palaces as Assad flees to Russia

Syrian rebels seized control over President Bashar al-Assad’s sprawling palaces as the 59-year-old autocratic leader fled the war-hit country and landed in Moscow where he was given asylum following the toppling of his 24-year-old regime by opposition forces in a lightning offensive.
The Islamist-led rebels and Syrians rejoiced at the sudden end to the 13-year-old civil war, saying it marked “the end of a dark era” and strolled through Assad’s presidential palaces, taking away items of furniture or ornaments and posing for photographs in different rooms.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group began its lightning offensive two weeks ago, capturing the key cities of Aleppo, Homs, Hama before proceeding to Damascus unopposed and seizing control of the Syrian capital on Sunday. Government forces loyal to Assad were forced to retreat as rebels captured control of key cities one by one, in a move that challenged the Assad family’s nearly six decades of autocratic rule.