Syrian President Bashar al-Assad left Damascus on a plane today for an unknown destination, two senior military officers told Reuters, as rebels said they had entered the capital.

Thousands of pedestrians and people in cars gathered in Damascus' main square, waving and shouting "Freedom", witnesses said.

"With the Syrian people, we celebrate the news of the release of our prisoners and the release of their chains and announce the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison," the rebels announced.

Sednaya is a large military prison in the suburbs of Damascus where the Syrian government has detained thousands of people.

Just hours earlier, rebels announced they had gained full control of the key city of Homs after just a day of fighting, leaving Assad's 24-year rule hanging in the balance.

Intense gunfire was heard in central Damascus, two residents said Sunday, although it was not immediately clear what source the gunfire was coming from.

In rural areas southwest of the capital, local youth and former rebels have taken advantage of the loss of power to take to the streets in acts of defiance against the authoritarian rule of the Assad family.

Thousands of Homs residents took to the streets after the army withdrew from the central city, dancing and chanting "Assad is gone, Homs is free" and "Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad."

Damascus has fallen.
Syria has fallen.
Bashar al-Assad has fallen.
These scenes show the disappearance of the Syrian army and security forces from the streets, similar to what happened previously in Iraq.# Damascus # Syria #BasharAlAssad #SyrianArmy #Iraq pic.twitter.com/HyDnhGx4h5

— khaled mahmoued (@khaledmahmoued1) December 8, 2024

Rebels fired into the air in celebration and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control collapsed in a dizzying week-long army retreat.

The fall of Homs gives the rebels control of Syria's strategic heartland and a key highway junction, separating Damascus from a coastal area that is a stronghold of Assad's Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval and air base. The capture of Homs is also a powerful symbol of the rebel movement's dramatic comeback in the 13-year conflict. Parts of Homs were devastated by a grueling siege war between rebels and the army several years ago.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the main rebel leader, called the capture of Homs a historic moment and urged fighters not to harm "those who throw down their weapons."

The rebels freed thousands of prisoners from the city jail. The security forces left in a hurry after burning their documents.

Residents of many areas of Damascus went out to protest against Assad yesterday evening, and the security forces were unwilling or unable to suppress them.

Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghani said early Sunday that operations were underway to "completely liberate" the countryside around Damascus and that rebel forces were eyeing the capital.

In one suburb, a statue of Assad's father, the late president Hafez al-Assad, was toppled and smashed.

The Syrian army earlier said it was building up around Damascus, and state television reported on Saturday that Assad remained in the city. Outside the city, the rebels seized the entire southwest within 24 hours and established control.

The fall of Homs and the threat to the capital pose an immediate existential threat to the Assad dynasty's five-decade rule over Syria and the continued influence of its main regional backer, Iran.

The speed of events stunned Arab capitals and fueled fears of a new wave of regional instability. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Russia issued a joint statement calling the crisis a dangerous development and calling for a political solution.

But there was no indication that they had agreed on any concrete steps, and the situation inside Syria was changing by the hour.

Syria's civil war, which erupted in 2011 as a rebellion against Assad's rule, has drawn major outside powers, created space for jihadist militants to plan attacks around the world and sent millions of refugees into neighboring countries.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the most powerful rebel group, is the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, which the US and others consider a terrorist organization and which many Syrians still fear will impose draconian Islamist rule. Golani tried to convince the minorities that he would not disturb them and the international community to oppose the Islamist attacks abroad. There were no reports of retaliation in Aleppo, which rebels captured a week ago.

Asked whether he trusted Golani on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it remained to be seen how it would turn out in practice. The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah withdrew from the Syrian town of Qusair on the Lebanese border before it was captured by rebel forces, Syrian military sources said on Sunday.

At least 150 armored vehicles carrying hundreds of Hezbollah fighters left the city, a long waypoint on the route for the transfer of weapons and fighters moving in and out of Syria, the sources said. Israel hit one of the convoys as it was leaving, a source said.