Jubilation and gunfire as Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad family’s half-century rule

0 seconds of 1 minute, 14 secondsVolume 90%

1 of 34 |  

People take to the streets of Damascus after the fall of Bashar Assad

2 of 34 |  

Celebrations erupted in Damascus early on Sunday after insurgents said they had entered the Syrian capital following their advance across the country. (AP video by Abdoulrahman Shaheen)

3 of 34 |  

Syrian opposition fighters said they had entered Damascus following a stunning advance across the country as the head of a Syrian opposition war monitor reported that President Bashar Assad had left the country for an undisclosed location.

4 of 34 |  

President Bashar Assad has left the country for an undisclosed location, according to a Syrian opposition war monitor. The report came shortly after insurgents said they had entered Damascus, capping a stunning advance across the country, as residents of the capital reported sounds of gunfire and explosions.Read More

5 of 34 |  

Angry Syrians stormed the Iranian Embassy in Damascus on Sunday morning as president Bashar Assad was toppled and reportedly left the country.

6 of 34 |  

At the Lebanon-Syria border scores of families were returning to Syria Sunday morning, with dozens of cars lining up to enter.

7 of 34 |  

Syrian opposition fighters stormed the presidential palace in the capital Damascus on Sunday after the fall Syria’s government (AP video by Omar Sanadiki).

8 of 34 |  

Some Syrians in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, expressed joy following the news that the Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family. (AP video by Lujain Jo)

9 of 34 |  

Syrians celebrate the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in the town of Bar Elias, Lebanon, near the border with Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

10 of 34 |  

Government soldiers and allies sit on the ground as they are taken into custody by opposition fighters on the road between Homs and Damascus, near Homs, Syria, on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

11 of 34 |  

A Syrian man sits on a chair flashes victory sign inside the Syrian presidential palace, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

12 of 34 |  

A Syrian opposition fighter sits inside an office at the Presidential Palace after the Syrian government collapsed in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

13 of 34 |  

A man walks by a broken portrait of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad as people search for belongings in the ransacked private residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Malkeh district of Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

14 of 34 |  

Opposition fighters celebrate the take over of the city by the insurgents in Damascus, Syria, Sunday Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

15 of 34 |  

A man tries to take a lamp as people search for belongings in the ransacked private residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Malkeh district of Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

16 of 34 |  

A group of people take a family photo while sitting on a couch in a hall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

17 of 34 |  

An opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus, Syria, Sunday Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

18 of 34 |  

Israeli soldiers walk near armored vehicles parked along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

19 of 34 |  

People gather to celebrate the fall of the Syrian government, in Manbij, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (Ugur Yildirim/Dia Photo via AP)

20 of 34 |  

Syrian opposition fighters remove a government Syrian flag from an official building in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria Syria, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

21 of 34 |  

An opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus, Syria, Sunday Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

22 of 34 |  

Residents celebrate the fall of the capital Damascus to opposition forces, in Homs, Syria, on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

23 of 34 |  

Opposition fighters burn down a military court in Damascus, Syria, Sunday Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

24 of 34 |  

FILE – In this photo provided by Saudi Press Agency, SPA, Syrian President Bashar Assad listens during the Arab summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 19, 2023. (Saudi Press Agency via AP, File)

25 of 34 |  

A combo of file photos shows Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, on Aug. 19, 2009, in Tehran, Iran, and his father, former Syrian President Hafez Assad, on Dec. 1, 1972, in an unknown location. (AP Photo)

26 of 34 |  

Syrians shoot in the air in celebration of the arrival of opposition fighters in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

27 of 34 |  

Opposition fighters stand next a government forces tank which was left on a highway, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

28 of 34 |  

Syrians celebrate the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government in the town of Bar Elias, Lebanon, near the border with Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

29 of 34 |  

Syrian opposition fighters take selfie at the damaged entrance of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

30 of 34 |  

An opposition fighter fires on his AK-47, as he celebrates the take over of the city in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

31 of 34 |  

Syrians gather as they celebrate the arrival of opposition fighters in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

32 of 34 |  

Syrians celebrate the arrival of opposition fighters as they step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

33 of 34 |  

Syrian opposition fighters celebrate after the Syrian government collapsed in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

34 of 34 |  

People crosses into Syria through the Masnaa border crossing point in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

By  ABDULRAHMAN SHAHEEN and ABBY SEWELLUpdated 9:06 AM MST, December 8, 2024Share

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrians poured into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire on Sunday after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule but raising questions about the future of the country and the wider region.

Joyful crowds gathered in central squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.

Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and residence after President Bashar Assad and other top officials vanished, their whereabouts unknown. Russia, a close ally, said Assad left the country after negotiations with rebel groups and had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.