Al-Assad’s private fleet of luxury cars revealed as Syrians loot his palaces after he fled the country
Rebels have stormed Bashar al-Assad’s palace, posing behind his desk and uncovering a massive fleet of Mercedes, Porches, Audis and Ferraris.
Islamist rebels in Syria have stormed the presidential palace of Bashar al-Assad in chaotic scenes, posing at his desk and uncovering a massive fleet of high-end cars, including Mercedes, Porches, Audis and Ferraris.
Videos shared on social media show gleeful looters touring a large garage in the sprawling New Shaab Palace, chock full of high-end roadsters from the deposed dictator’s private stash.
One eagle-eye commenter pointed to a coveted Mercedes-Benz with gullwing doors, The NY Post reports.
SUVs, motorcycles, ATVs, and what appears to be an armored truck also awaited the rebels, who traipsed through the sprawling mansion taking selfies, firing guns into the air and making off with anything that wasn’t bolted down, videos shared on X show.
Another clip showed men hauling away furniture and artwork while women in full hijab picked through the dishes and bed linens.
One video shows what appears to be an armoury stocked with scores of submachine guns.
The palace is a fortress made of stone and marble perched on a hill on the outskirts of Damascus; the Guardian once described it as an “echoing monument to dictator decor.”
Rebel soldiers found it abandoned after declaring that they had taken Damascus in a lightning offensive on Sunday. The coup sent President Bashar al-Assad fleeing, ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria, in which the dictator and his family lived like emperors while the people languished.
Al-Assad and family arrive in Moscow: Report
Assad absconded by plane and has since arrived in Moscow where he and his family have been granted political asylum, Russian state media agencies report, citing sources in the Kremlin.
The RIA Novosti news agency reports that the Kremlin is in contact with the leaders of the armed Syrian opposition, “who have guaranteed security to the Russian military bases and diplomatic establishments in Syria”.
The agency quotes an unnamed source in the Kremlin as saying Russia has “always called for a search for a political solution in the Syrian crisis”.
“We hope the Syrian dialogue will continue in the interests of the Syrian people and the development of bilateral relations between Russia and Syria,” the source said.
In a message broadcast on state television, the rebels earlier announced that they had toppled “tyrant” Assad and freed unjustly detained prisoners.
A group of people were shown at the state television news studio, with one reading a statement from the “Damascus Conquest operations room” announcing “the liberation of the city of Damascus and the fall of the tyrant Bashar al-Assad and the release of all the unjustly detained from the regime prisons”.
They also called on fighters and citizens to safeguard the “property of the free Syrian state”.
Residents in the Syrian capital were seen cheering in the streets of Damascus after the rebel group’s announcement.
China’s urgent message after tyrant flees
In the wake of the rebel takeover, China has issued an urgent message to Syria.
China’s foreign ministry said that Beijing “is closely following the development of the situation in Syria and hopes that Syria returns to stability as soon as possible”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The Chinese government has actively assisted Chinese citizens who are willing to leave Syria in a safe and orderly way, and has maintained contact with ... Chinese citizens who remain in Syria,” the ministry said.
“We urge the relevant Syrian parties to take practical measures to ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and personnel in Syria,” it added.
“At present, the Chinese embassy in Syria is still holding strong, and we will continue to provide full assistance to Chinese citizens in need.”
While Russia and Iran have been Syria’s closest backers in recent years, China’s ties to the country have grown.
China is one of only a handful of countries outside the Middle East that Assad has visited since Syria’s civil war began in 2011. On that 2023 trip, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Assad announced a “strategic partnership” between their countries.
But with the rebel offensive sweeping through the country, the Chinese embassy in Damascus sent an urgent notice on Thursday advising its citizens to leave Syria “as soon as possible”.
Trump confirms Assad has ‘fled’
US president-elect Donald Trump confirmed Assad had “fled his country”, saying he left after losing the backing of Russia.
“Assad is gone,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.”
The ‘start of a new era’ for Syria
The president’s reported departure comes less than two weeks since the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group launched its campaign challenging more than five decades of rule by the Assad family.
“After 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and (forced) displacement … we announce today the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria,” the rebel factions said on Telegram.
Syria’s Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali said he was ready to co-operate with “any leadership chosen by the Syrian people”.
The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP “Assad left Syria via Damascus international airport before the army security forces left” the facility.
While reports remain unconfirmed, a source close to Hezbollah told AFP fighters from the key Assad ally had left their positions around Damascus.
HTS said their fighters broke into a jail on the outskirts of the capital, announcing an “end of the era of tyranny in the prison of Sednaya” which has become a byword for the darkest abuses of the Syrian regime.
The rapid developments in Damascus come only hours after HTS said they had captured the strategic city of Homs on the way to the capital.
The defence ministry denied that rebels had entered Homs, describing the situation as “safe and stable”.
Homs lies about 140 kilometres north of the capital and was the third major city seized by the rebels, who began their advance on November 27, reigniting a years-long war that had become largely dormant.
Iranian diplomats left Damascus embassy before ‘assault’
Iran’s embassy in Syria was “attacked” on Sunday, Iranian state TV said.
“Unknown individuals have attacked the Iranian embassy, as you can see in these images, shared by various networks,” a state TV broadcaster said, showing footage said to be from inside the diplomatic compound.
Iranian diplomats had left their embassy before it came under attack, Iranian media said.
“Iranian diplomats at the embassy in Damascus evacuated the premises prior to an assault,” the Tehran Times daily reported, citing foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.
It added that embassy staff were safe
Biden is ‘closely monitoring’ the situation in Syria
US President Joe Biden is keeping a close eye on “extraordinary events” transpiring in Syria, the White House said.
“President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement on social media.
UN envoy voices ‘cautious hope’ for Syria
The UN special envoy to Syria said the country was at “a watershed moment”.
Describing nearly 14 years of civil war in Syria as a “dark chapter (that) has left deep scars”, Geir Pedersen said in a statement that “today we look forward with cautious hope to the opening of a new one-one of peace, reconciliation, dignity, and inclusion for all Syrians”.
Syrian rebels not to approach official institutions in Damascus
The leader of Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has ordered forces not to approach official institutions in Damascus, saying they would remain under the prime minister until they are “officially” handed over.
“To all military forces in the city of Damascus, it is strictly forbidden to approach public institutions, which will remain under the supervision of the former prime minister until they are officially handed over,” Jolani said in a statement on Telegram, using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa instead of his nom de guerre.
“It is forbidden to shoot into the air,” he added.
Rebels topple statue
Meanwhile, Damascus residents are bracing for chaos as rebels circle.
In footage circulating on social media, rebels appear to have reached the outer suburbs of Damascus, where they’ve since toppled an iconic statue.
The footage shows a statue of Assad’s father, Hafez, toppling to the ground in Damascus’ eastern suburb of Jaramana.
Protesters can be seen ripping the head off the giant statue, which sat less than 10km from the centre of the city. The rebels then shifted focus to attacking posters of Assad and demanding security forces leave the area, The Sun reports.
It is understood the Assad regime’s defensive line in the northwest of the country has collapsed surprisingly fast.
On Sunday morning local time, CNN reported dramatic scenes within Damascus airport with
dozens of people desperately trying to pass through security checkpoints and onwards to departure gates in a bid to flee the country.
The publication reported that parts of the airport appeared to be unstaffed.
Rebels take hold
Last week, rebels seized the second-city of Aleppo in the northeast as well as Idlib and Hama. The group claim, as reported by the BBC, that Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghani has “fully liberated” Syria’s central city of Homs.
According to the report, Syria’s Islamist rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani called the takeover a “historic moment”. It is understood he called on his fighters not to harm “those who drop their arms”.
In a video post on Telegram, al-Jolani says: “We are living in the final moments of the liberation of the city of Homs … this historic event that will distinguish between truth and falsehood”.
While there are many of them, Syria’s main rebel group says it will now focus on Damascus, after capturing four cities in a day to the south and north of the capital.
“We were able to liberate four Syrian cities within 24 hours: Daraa, Quneitra, Suwayda and Homs, and our operations are continuing to liberate the entire Damascus countryside, and our eyes are on the capital, Damascus,” Ghani said early Sunday morning local time, as reported by CNN.
If that proves true, and Damascus is the next to fall, officials say it would be a tremendously fast fall from power for the Syrian dictator after a civil war that began in 2011.
– With AFP
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