A video recording of the leader of the HTS rebel group, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, is circulating on the Internet with citizens gathered in the famous Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
According to the AP agency, this is the first time Al-Jolani has publicly appeared in Damascus since the rebels took control of the capital, chthe name symbolically marked the end of the decades-long rule of the Assad family. The crowd chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).
The video of this event was shared by rebel groups on Telegram, and the scenes from the mosque caused a strong reaction on social networks.
Russia's first reaction
There is still speculation about the whereabouts of Bashar al-Assad, the ousted president of Syria. It is said that he managed to escape the country, but it is not known where. Among other things, it is speculated that he is in Russia with Vladimir Putin, his long-time ally.
Photo: APPutin and Assad
At the same time, Russia did not react to the offensive of the rebels. According to Russian military sources, Russian fleet ships stationed in Tartus withdrew a few days before the rebels captured Damascus. The Russian Air Force, which previously had a decisive influence on the turn in favor of Assad's forces, did not provide any support this time.
"Syrians will now have to deal with the civil war alone," Konstantin Kosachev, the deputy speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, said this morning after Syrian rebels declared Assad's ouster.
It is Moscow's first official reaction to the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Fighting in southern Syria
The Israeli army issued a warning to residents of five towns in southern Syria urging them not to leave their homes "until further notice" due to fighting in the area, Reuters reported.
Earlier, the same agency reported that strong explosions were heard in the Mazeh district of Damascus, and that there is a suspicion that Israel carried out an attack on this area.
At the same time, regional intelligence sources reported that planes, believed to belong to Israeli forces, targeted the former Syrian Halkhala air base in southern Syria.
Photo: APSyrians on the Lebanese border
Syrian media also report that the Mezeh airbase near Damascus was attacked, while at the same time ammunition and weapons warehouses were bombed in southern Syria, including Daraa province.
According to reports, Israeli airstrikes hit the areas of Daraa and Suwayda, located in southern Syria near the Israeli border, as well as the Mezzeh military base near the capital Damascus. The Israeli army has not yet commented on these allegations.
The robbed palace and bank
The BBC reported that immediately after the fall of the Assad regime, a large number of people arrived at the presidential palace in Damascus, and that it was almost completely looted and emptied. When BBC reporters arrived, the space was almost completely empty, with only a few pieces of furniture left.
Members of the rebel group HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) arrived on the scene and took control of the situation, stating that the looting was "unacceptable".
Despite their presence, people continued to enter the palace, take photos, pose and take whatever they could. According to BBC reports, the citizens express their revenge for the years of repression and poverty they experienced under the rule of Bashar al-Assad and his father.
According to an AFP report, a fire broke out in the reception hall of the presidential palace in Damascus, which was used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad until yesterday.
As reported by the Daily Mail, rebels and citizens stormed the Central Bank of Syria and took out bags full of money.
Source: BBC
