Where is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad?
Syrian rebels took control of Damascus, announcing the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, who, according to Russia, resigned and left the country, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
Syrian rebels entered Damascus early Sunday, signalling the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule and ending the Assad dynasty after over 50 years.
The whereabouts of Assad remains unclear, with Russia stating he has “resigned” and left the country.
Earlier, Syrian state TV denied the claims that the president fled the country on Saturday, reporting that he was still in Damascus. By Sunday morning, state broadcasts were interrupted, replaced by a message in Arabic declaring, “The Syrian revolution has won and the criminal Assad regime has fallen.”
On Friday, the British newspaper Telegraph reported that the Assad family fled to Russia but did not specify which members of the Assad family or their destination.
The New York Times claimed Assad fled Damascus in an unknown direction.
Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the AP that Assad left Damascus on Sunday morning, a report also corroborated by Reuters citing military sources.
FlightRadar24.com showed an Ilyushin aircraft departing Damascus airport around the time rebels seized the city, with no destination listed.
The Ilyushin aircraft reportedly flew east towards Syria’s border with Iraq before turning northwest, heading toward Assad loyalist and Russian ally strongholds. After passing Homs, under anti-government control, it reversed course, and its tracking signal disappeared about an hour after takeoff.
No independent source has verified who was aboard the Ilyushin aircraft.
Reuters, citing Syrian sources, suggests the disappearance might be due to the tracking system being disabled or the aircraft being shot down.
Near the point where the Ilyushin aircraft’s trail vanished lies a Syrian air force base in Al-Qusayr, an area under rebel control.
The status of the military airfield remains unclear. At the time of disappearance, the aircraft reportedly began losing altitude, dropping to 1,600 feet within a minute, while its speed decreased sharply from 819 km/h to 64 km/h.
The only other recorded flight out of Syria on Sunday morning was an Embraer aircraft flying between Abu Dhabi and Homs, but it departed hours after rebels entered Damascus.
The UAE’s presidential adviser stated he had no knowledge of Assad being in the country.
Separately, Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing an Israeli source, claimed Assad flew to a Russian base in Syria on Saturday night, intending to flee to Russia.
ADVERTISEMENTUS President-elect Donald Trump claimed on Truth Social that Assad has fled Syria, saying “Russia, under Vladimir Putin, is no longer willing to protect him”.
The Wall Street Journal reported Assad is in Moscow with his family following advice from Egypt and Jordan.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg suggested a self-exile agreement might involve Assad relocating first to an area under his control and then to Tehran. None of these claims have been verified. Moscow remains the most official source, though Assad’s exact location is still unclear.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Bashar al-Assad resigned as president and left Syria after negotiations with various parties in the Syrian conflict, emphasising that Russia did not participate in these talks. Assad reportedly gave instructions for a peaceful transfer of power before departing.
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