Bashar al-Assad’s residence in Damascus was ransacked Sunday after rebels seized management of the Syrian capital, forcing the deposed president to flee the nation.
Pictures from the Related Press present Assad’s residence in shambles, with empty cupboards and books, work and different private belongings scattered throughout the flooring. In a single picture, a person is seen trying to take a lamp whereas others canvas the room. In one other, a bunch of individuals pose with smiles and peace indicators the place Assad as soon as lived.
The reactions from Syrians since Assad’s downfall replicate the deep animosity that he engendered inside the nation. For greater than 50 years, the Assad household dominated with an iron grip and regularly deployed Syria’s feared safety forces to crush dissent.
Assad, who took energy in 2000 following the demise of his father, was recognized for his violent crackdowns on opposition over greater than a decade of civil battle in Syria. The U.S. and the United Nations have each blamed Assad for a chemical weapons assault that killed a whole lot — and maybe greater than 1,000 individuals — in 2013. A global arrest warrant was issued towards Assad final yr after France’s high courtroom accused him of complicity in battle crimes through the civil battle.
Inside hours of rebels coming into the Syrian capital, Assad landed in Russia, the place in accordance the nation’s state-run information company Tass, he was granted asylum.
The swift insurgent marketing campaign began lower than two weeks in the past, when fighters launched a collection of lightning offensives — first capturing the northern metropolis of Aleppo after which advancing south towards the regime facilities of energy, as uprisings broke out in massive swaths of the nation.