A prolonged family rule ended in Syria after the rise of a radical Islamist-turned-rebel politician led to the dethroning of Bashar al-Assad on December 8.

This all started when Abu Mohammed al-Jolani aka Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Syrian rebel leader, ended Assad’s 13-year-long reign.

However, the United States and other Western countries claimed that Jolani might be involved with a leading terrorist organisation, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The ‘City of Jasmine’ was left by Assad as speculation is rife that his plane might have crashed after it disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Reports indicate that Assad fled from Damascus on Sunday morning as the rebels took control of Damascus early on Sunday. Assad is said to have boarded a plane from Damascus for an undisclosed location, as per two senior army officers.

However, Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Russia and been granted asylum “out of humanitarian considerations”, as per Russian news agencies, according to BBC.

Soon after Assad's fall, Israel, the United States, and Türkiye conducted airstrikes in Syria, reportedly aimed at ‘preventing them from being taken over by ISIS’.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said that his country’s forces are seizing “additional points” in the buffer zone in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, according to an Israeli news channel.

“After 14 years of brutal war and the fall of the dictatorial regime, today the people of Syria can seize a historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday.

In a viral video doing rounds on social media, Syrians can be seen hoarding the residence of Assad in Damascus after the fall of the president.

The rebels found a collection of luxurious cars after they stormed in the now-abandoned palace of Assad.

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