The Government of President Bashar al-Assad collapsed in Syria on December 8 (2024) morning immediately after the rebel forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant outfit and its affiliate Jaish al-Izza (the Army of Pride), entered the capital city of Damascus. Reuters reported that al-Assad fled Syria for an unknown destination. Top Syrian Army officials informed Reuters that the ousted president boarded an aircraft in the morning. However, the plane, carrying al-Assad, crashed or was shot down outside Lebanon! It dropped from an altitude of 3,650 metres to 1,070 metres within minutes. The Ilyushin-76 aircraft, flight number Syrian Air 9218, was heading to the Syrian coast, a stronghold of al-Assad’s Alawite sect, before it abruptly took a U-turn and disappeared from radar. According to experts, the sudden disappearance and altitude change suggest that the plane was shot down! A Syrian official grimly noted: “If he was on that plane, the probability of him being alive is slim.”

Reports suggest that the rebels surrounded Damascus, prompting the Government Forces to retreat. They captured the capital without any resistance as no government representatives or forces were seen in Damascus. The Syrian Observatory in Britain confirmed that the Syrian Army and security guards were withdrawn from the main airport.

Soon after the fall of al-Assad Regime, the rebels released all the political prisoners from Sednaya Prison. “We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners and releasing their chains and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison,” stated a rebel leader. Sednaya is a large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus where the Syrian Government detained thousands.

The development triggered panic across the West Asian nation. AFP reported that gunfire was heard in Damascus since the morning. While residents were unable to leave their homes due to fear, supporters of President al-Assad started fleeing the capital after the fall of the government. Rebels captured one city after another over the past few days before arriving in Damascus. After considering the situation, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali announced that he was ready to transfer power to the Oppositions. He also called for free elections, saying that he had been in contact with rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani to discuss managing the transitional period. From his announcement, it is clear that the Prime Minister decided to surrender, instead of waging a war against the rebels. Interestingly, a purported video showed a group of armed men escorting Prime Minister al-Jalali out of his office and to the Four Seasons hotel.

Moments after the fall of the al-Assad Government was announced, Israel started to invade Quneitra in southern Syria. The Israeli Army announced the launch of a ground operation there. All agricultural areas adjacent to the Syrian border have been declared closed military zone. The US has made clear that it would maintain its presence in eastern Syria and take necessary measures to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State. Daniel Shapiro, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for the Middle East, said: “We are aware that the chaotic and dynamic circumstances on the ground in Syria could give ISIS space to find the ability to become active, to plan external operations, and we are determined to work with those partners to continue to degrade their capabilities.“

The rapidly developing events have shaken the entire region, with Lebanon closing all its land border crossings with Syria, except for one that links Beirut with Damascus. Iraq and Jordan, too, closed their border crossing with Syria. On December 7, Lebanese armed group Hezbollah withdrew all of its forces from Syria as rebel forces approached Damascus. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told AFP that the “al-Assad Regime collapsed and control of the country is changing hands“. He stressed: “This did not happen overnight. For the last 13 years, the country has been in turmoil.” Interfax reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with the UN Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, in Doha on December 7 to discuss potential measures for stabilising the situation in Syria.

Meanwhile, political analysts are of the opinion that the US has triggered the fall of al-Assad. It may be noted that Washington DC had backed pro-democracy armed groups against President al-Assad in 2011. Later, NATO carried out attacks in Syria to eliminate the ISIS terrorists. Israeli airstrikes have weakened al-Assad’s forces in recent times, giving an opportunity to rebels to gain strength. Although Russia and Iran sent forces to Syria in order to suppress the rebellion, they failed to save the al-Assad Regime.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das