Footage shows people inside Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad’s palace (Image: X)
Footage has emerged showing the storming of palace of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad – after rebels seized the capital city of Damascus.
Video shared online shows people following a lightning offensive by rebel groups that has seen them seize key cities across the country in a matter of days.
Groups are seen walking around the palace and chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Great).
Al-Assad, whose regime was supported by and Iran, fled the capital by air as rebel forces arrived.
The whereabouts of the dictator, who took power in 2000 following the 30-year-rule of his father Hafez, is currently unknown.
People inside Assad’s palace (Image: X)
Syria has been in the grips of a multi-sided civil war since 2011 and the Arab Spring.
The offensive over the past fortnight has involved a number of rebel groups, primarily including the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) from the country’s north west.
The group has seized major cities including Aleppo, Homs and Hama in recent days, before finally surrounding Damascus with the aid of other groups.
The apparent fall of al-Assad has been welcomed by the British Government.
Deputy Prime Minister told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “The situation looks very serious and if (the) Assad regime has fallen, then I welcome that news, but what we need to see is a political resolution in line with the UN resolutions. We need to see civilians and infrastructure protected, far too many people have lost their lives, we need stability in that region.”
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Crowds inside Assad’s palace (Image: X)
She added: “The Foreign Secretary and obviously our Foreign Office are working. You’ll have heard last week, the Foreign Secretary was very clear about UK civilians leaving Syria.
“We’ve had a plan to ensure that people were evacuated ahead of what’s happened over the weekend and we continue to support our UK nationals.”
Ms Rayner later said President Bashar al-Assad “wasn’t exactly good to the Syrian people”, before adding: “Dictatorship and terrorism creates problems for the people of Syria, who have faced so much already and also destabilises the region.
“That’s why we have to have a political solution where the government is acting in the interests of the Syrian people.”
Former head of MI6 Sir John Sawers has said the fall of the Assad regime in Syria will be a “surprise” to UK intelligence services.
He told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “I think it was a surprise to everyone, it probably came as a surprise to Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which have been the main rebel group involved in this march on Damascus, I don’t think they expected to go so far so fast.
“I think we’re all surprised at how the regime forces have just completely collapsed, even those most loyal to the regime and closest to the regime.
“So, yes, it is a surprise, it’s not a failure of intelligence, it’s a surprise to everyone.”