Syria Civil War: After taking full control over the strategic city of Homs, anti-government protesters in Syria toppled a statue of late President Hafez al-Assad, the father of President Hafez Assad, in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, news agency AFP reported. Visuals shared on social media showed the rebels celebrating on the roads and dragging one of the statues of Hafez al-Assad, who was the president of Syria from 1970 until his death in 2000.
This statue of the late Syrian president, Hafez Assad, the father of current leader Bashar Assad, was torn down in the city of Hama after rebels took control. pic.twitter.com/iX4JiV5kCN
— DW News (@dwnews) December 7, 2024
A witness told the news agency that “dozens of protesters” tore down the statue in a main square in Jaramana, while another witness said the statue was later smashed. Jaramana, which is some 10 kilometres southeast of downtown Damascus, is predominantly inhabited by Druze and Christians.
The protesters were calling for the downfall of Assad’s government, according to witnesses cited by news agencies.
The rebels, in their first announcement on state television following a lightning offensive, said they have ended Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year “authoritarian rule”. Syria’s army command told officers that Assad’s regime had ended, Reuters reported quoting a Syrian officer.
However, the army later said it was continuing operations against “terrorist groups” in the key cities of Hama and Homs and in Deraa countryside. President Assad flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination earlier on Sunday after rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.
“We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of freeing our prisoners and releasing their chains and announcing the end of the era of injustice in Sednaya prison,” the rebels were quoted as saying by Reuters.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military has deployed forces into the buffer zone between Israel and Syria in the occupied Golan Heights. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the deployment aims to ensure the safety of Golan Heights communities and Israeli citizens, and they will continue operations as needed to preserve the buffer zone.
The Golan Heights is a strategic plateau seized by Israel from Syria in 1967.
