Syria war latest: Assad regime toppled as rebel fighters seize control of Damascus

Syria should have an 18 month transition period to establish “a safe, neutral, and quiet environment” for free elections, Hadi Al-Bahra, the head of Syria‘s main opposition abroad, has said.

The lightning offensive has sparked concerns in Arab capitals and raised fears of a new wave of regional instability, as well as questions over whether the rebels will be able to ensure an orderly transition.

Al-Bahra, President of the Syrian National Coalition, said Syria should draft a constitution within six months, on which the first election would be a referendum.

“The constitution will say, are we going to have a parliamentary system, presidential system, or mixed system? And based on this, we do the election and the people choose their leader,” Al-Bahra told Reuters.

He added that the opposition had asked state employees to continue to report to work until the power transition, and assured them that they would not be harmed.

Syrian state TV briefly continued its programs, with an anchorman calling on all employees at the station to return to work adding that they are safe.

“This is Damascus, the capital of Syria where the gates of freedom have opened for the first time in many years. This is a historic day in Syria’s modern history” the anchorman said Sunday morning.

He later hosted Anas Salkhadi, a rebel commander among the fighters who stormed the capital. Salkhadi said that the rebels would protect state institutions.

“Our message to all the sects of Syria is that we tell them that Syria is for everyone,” Salkhadi said. “We will not do what Assad family did,” he said.

As Salkhadi spoke, the sound was cut and the broadcast suddenly stopped. A red banner then appeared on screen with writing in Arabic that said: “The victory of the great Syrian revolution and the fall of Assad’s criminal regime.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed understanding for the relief Syrian people felt after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government, but warned that “the country must not now fall into the hands of other radicals.”

“Several hundred thousand Syrians have been killed in the civil war, millions have fled,” Baerbock said in a statement emailed by her office Sunday. “Assad has murdered, tortured and used poison gas against his own people. He must finally be held accountable for this.”

Baerbock also called “on the parties to the conflict to live up to their responsibility for all Syrians.”

“This includes the comprehensive protection of ethnic and religious minorities such as Kurds, Alawites or Christians and an inclusive political process that creates a balance between the groups,” the German foreign minister said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the ousting of Syria‘s Bashar al-Assad as a “historic day” that followed the blows delivered by Israel against Assad’s supporters Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

On a visit to the area near the border with Syria, he said he had ordered Israeli forces to seize areas in the buffer zone to ensure Israel’s security and said: “We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border”.

Syrians will have to cope with a full-scale civil war alone, Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy chairman of Russia’s upper house of parliament has said.

Russia, a staunch Assad ally, intervened decisively in 2015 to prop him up during Syria’s civil war. But with its military resources mostly tied down in Ukraine, Russia’s ability to influence the situation on the ground was far more limited this time round – despite maintaining two military facilities in Syria – and it did not mobilise the same level of resources.

Kosachyov, a veteran Russian expert in international affairs, predicted that the civil war in Syria would not end with Assad’s departure and that tough times were ahead.

“Syria is a very difficult story, for everyone without exception. One way or another, the civil war will not end today, there are too many opposing interests and too many opposing forces. Including outright terrorist groups. And that is why the hardest part is ahead again,” Kosachyov wrote on his official Telegram channel.

“It’s a tragedy, I repeat, for everyone. And for us Russians, our primary task is to ensure the safety of our compatriots and civilians, including of our diplomats and their families, and, of course, of the military personnel who are there for the sake of Syria, its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“If the people of Syria continue to need our support, it will be provided. But hardly in the context of a full-scale civil war. The Syrians will have to deal with that themselves,” he said.

Turkey-backed Syrian forces have taken control of some 80 per cent of northern Syria’s Manbij area and are close to victory against Kurdish forces there, a Turkish security source has said.

“The fight against the YPG/PKK is very close to victory. Both air and land interventions are ongoing to take Manbij from the hands of the YPG/PKK,” the source told Reuters, referring to the Kurdish militia which has long been in control of Manbij.

Suspected Israeli airstrikes have hit the Mazzeh district of Damascus, security sources have said.

Additionally, jets believed to be Israeli bombed the Khalkhala air base in southern Syria that was evacuated by the Syrian army overnight, two regional security sources told Reuters.

The Israeli government had no comment on the reported strikes.

The regional security sources said at least six strikes hit the main air base in the north of the city of Suweida that has a large stockpile of rockets and missiles left by Syrian troops.

The attack appeared aimed at prevent these weapons from falling into the hands of radical groups, one source told Reuters.