Damascus is no longer under the control of Bashar al-Assad, as rebels staged a sudden advance and seized the Syrian capital, marking the end of Assad’s 24-year reign. Early Sunday, two senior army officers reported that Assad boarded a plane from Damascus, heading to an undisclosed location, fueling speculation about his fate.
The fall of Damascus
The rebel offensive, which began a week ago with the surprise capture of northern Aleppo, quickly snowballed. Cities fell one after another as Assad’s forces were unable to hold their ground. The takeover of Homs, a strategic central city, severed Damascus from the Alawite-dominated coastal region, where Assad’s Russian allies maintain air and naval bases.
Assad has not made a public appearance since the rebel advance began. The Syrian leader’s wife, Asma, and their two children are also unaccounted for.
A mysterious flight
Around the time the rebels reportedly captured Damascus, a Syrian Air plane took off from the city’s airport, according to Flightradar24, a flight tracking service. Initially heading toward Syria’s coastal region, the aircraft made a sudden U-turn and flew in the opposite direction before vanishing from radar.
Two Syrian sources speculated that the plane might have been downed. “It disappeared off the radar, possibly the transponder was switched off, but I believe the bigger probability is that the aircraft was taken down,” said one source, declining to elaborate further.
Speculations and theories
The rebels’ swift advance has sparked rumors about Assad’s possible escape. Some believe he might seek asylum in Moscow or Tehran, his key allies. However, conflicting reports have muddied the waters.
Syrian state media, as of Saturday, insisted that Assad was still in Damascus. Iranian news agencies also released a photograph purportedly showing Assad meeting a top Iranian official in Damascus. Yet, as rebels closed in, state media fell silent.
The sole trackable flight leaving Syria after midnight was a commercial plane heading to the UAE, hours after Homs fell. Whether Assad and his family were on board remains unconfirmed.
A leadership in limbo
The sudden collapse of Assad’s government has left Syria’s political future uncertain. While celebrations erupted in rebel-held areas, the fate of Assad, a central figure in Syria’s decade-long civil war, remains shrouded in mystery.
For now, all eyes are on the radar screens and international channels for any sign of the ousted president’s whereabouts. As one Syrian official grimly noted, “If he was on that plane, the probability of him being alive is slim.”