The end of the Assad family’s brutal 50-plus years of rule over Syria has been celebrated on the streets of the capital Damascus with gunfire, jubilation, and wild street rallies.
AP reports joyful crowds thronged 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 a bloody insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.
Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and the Assad family 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.
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