What is happening in Syria and why now?

The Assad household dominated Syria for greater than 50 years with an iron fist. Now that has come to an finish.

Bashar al-Assad turned president after the loss of life in 2000 of his father Hafez, who had dominated for nearly three many years.

In 2011, he brutally crushed a peaceable, pro-democracy rebellion, sparking a devastating civil battle by which greater than half 1,000,000 individuals have been killed and 12 million others have been compelled to flee their houses.

Twelve days in the past, the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied insurgent factions launched a significant offensive in north-western Syria.

The rebels rapidly captured the nation’s second-largest metropolis, Aleppo, then swept southwards down the freeway to the capital, Damascus, because the navy collapsed.

Russia introduced that Assad had stepped down and left Syria on Sunday, hours after the rebels entered Damascus and crowds gathered on the streets to have a good time, though his whereabouts remained unknown.

HTS chief Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani later arrived in Damascus and informed Syrians: “The longer term is ours.”

For the previous 4 years, it had felt just like the civil battle was successfully over.

Assad’s authorities had regained management over most of Syria’s cities with the assistance of Russia, Iran and Iranian-backed militias like Hezbollah, and the entrance traces had been largely frozen.

Nevertheless, massive elements of the nation had been nonetheless out of the federal government’s management.

The rebels’ final stronghold was in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, which border Turkey and the place greater than 4 million individuals had been dwelling, a lot of them displaced. It was dominated by HTS, however quite a few allied insurgent teams and jihadist teams had been additionally primarily based there. Turkish-backed insurgent factions additionally managed territory with the help of Turkish troops.

On 27 November, HTS and its allies launched their shock offensive.

After three days, they took management of most of Aleppo – Syria’s second-largest metropolis. They stated they confronted little resistance on the bottom after the federal government quickly withdrew its troops and safety forces.

The Turkish-backed insurgent factions in the meantime capitalised on the federal government’s retreat by launching a separate offensive on territory north of Aleppo managed by a Kurdish-led militia alliance supported by the US, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Assad vowed to “crush” the rebels with the assistance of his allies. Russian warplanes intensified strikes on rebel-held areas and Iran-backed militias despatched reinforcements to assist the navy close to Hama – the subsequent metropolis south on the best way to Damascus.

However Hama fell to the rebels on Thursday, after a number of days of fierce battles that ultimately prompted the navy to withdraw.

The rebels declared their subsequent purpose was to take Homs, Syria’s third-largest metropolis, and achieved that on Saturday evening after solely a day of preventing. On the similar time, different insurgent factions primarily based reached the suburbs of Damascus.

Early on Sunday, HTS-led rebels introduced that they had entered Damascus and launched detainees at the country’s most notorious military prison, Saydnaya.

Lower than two hours later, they declared: “The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled.”

Activists and armed forces officers stated the president had left Damascus on a aircraft to an undisclosed location.

Prime Minister, Mohammed al-Jalali, in the meantime introduced in a video that he was “able to co-operate with” any management that was “chosen by the Syrian individuals”.

Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani ordered his forces to not strategy official establishments, saying they’d stay beneath the authority of the prime minister till they had been “formally” handed over.

The rebels additionally promised to construct a “homeland for all, together with all sects and social lessons”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that at the very least 910 individuals had been killed, together with 138 civilians, because the begin of the insurgent offensive.

The Islamist militant group that led the offensive towards Assad was arrange in 2012 beneath a unique identify, al-Nusra Entrance.

Al-Nusra Entrance, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda the next 12 months, was considered probably the most efficient and lethal teams preventing President Assad.

However it was feared for its jihadist ideology, and was seen as being at odds with the largely secular most important insurgent coalition – the Free Syrian Military.

In 2016, Al-Nusra broke ties with al-Qaeda and took the identify Hayat Tahrir al-Sham when it merged with different factions a 12 months later.

Nevertheless, the UN, US, UK and quite a few different international locations proceed to contemplate HTS as an al-Qaeda affiliate and continuously confer with it as al-Nusra Entrance. The US named Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani as a specifically designated international terrorist and provided a $10m reward for data that led to his seize.

HTS consolidated its energy in Idlib and Aleppo provinces by crushing its rivals, together with al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) group cells. It arrange the so-called Syrian Salvation Authorities to manage the territory in accordance with Islamic regulation.

For a number of years, Idlib remained a battleground as Syrian authorities forces tried to regain management.

However in 2020, Turkey and Russia brokered a ceasefire to halt a push by the federal government to retake Idlib. The ceasefire largely held regardless of sporadic preventing.

HTS and its allies stated on 27 November that they had launched an offensive to “deter aggression”, accusing the federal government and allied Iran-backed militias of escalating assaults on civilians.

However it got here at a time when the federal government had been weakened by years of battle, sanctions and corruption – with allies Russia and Iran preoccupied by different conflicts.

The Iran-backed group Hezbollah had lately suffered from Israel’s offensive in Lebanon. Israeli strikes had eradicated Iranian navy commanders in Syria, and Russia was distracted by the battle in Ukraine.

With out them, Assad’s forces had been left uncovered.

Russia stated it was “following the dramatic occasions in Syria with excessive concern”. The overseas ministry known as on “all events concerned” within the Syrian battle to “surrender using violence and resolve all governance points by means of political means”. It additionally stated that Russian navy bases in Syria had been “on excessive alert”, though there was “no severe risk to their safety”.

Iran expressed a hope for “the swift finish of navy conflicts, the prevention of terrorist actions, and the graduation of nationwide dialogue” with all elements of Syrian society.

Turkey stated Syria was now at a stage “the place the Syrian individuals will form the way forward for their very own nation”. International Minister Hakan Fidan stated the brand new authorities “have to be established in an orderly method” and warned that “the precept of inclusiveness mustn’t ever be compromised”.

Israel’s prime minister stated the collapse of the Assad authorities was the “direct end result” of his nation’s motion towards Hezbollah and Iran. Benjamin Netanyahu additionally introduced that he had ordered the Israeli navy to briefly “take over” Syrian military positions within the demilitarized zone within the Golan Heights, saying a 1974 ceasefire settlement between the 2 international locations had “collapsed” as a result of Syrian troops had deserted their posts.

The White Home stated US President Joe Biden and his staff had been “intently monitoring the extraordinary occasions in Syria and staying in fixed contact with regional companions”.

Iraq, the place highly effective Iran-backed militias despatched fighters to help the Syrian navy within the civil battle, stated it supported efforts to open a dialogue in Syria “resulting in the adoption of a pluralistic structure that preserves the human and civil rights of Syrians”.

Jordan’s King Abdullah, which backed insurgent factions at first of the battle, stated it revered the need and decisions of the Syrian individuals. He confused the significance of imposing stability and avoiding “any battle that would result in chaos”.

The European Union’s overseas coverage chief, Kaja Kallas, known as Assad’s fall “a optimistic and long-awaited growth”, and stated the bloc’s precedence was to make sure safety within the area.