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Seizing military bases, toppling regime statues, freeing prisoners and capturing major cities – this is just a fraction of what Syrian rebel forces have achieved in just over a week.Sky News has tracked the shock offensive that has ousted President Bashar al Assad, using over 60 geolocated videos that show how they advanced through major cities and captured the capital Damascus. While Assad, who has now left the country, had earlier vowed to "crush" the offensive, visual evidence shows how quickly his regime has fallen.This is how the offensive unfolded.Until just over a week ago, Assad's Russian-backed forces controlled much of Syria. Now the opposition groups - led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) - a former al Qaeda affiliate previously known as the Nusra Front - have ca...

Syria's ousted President Bashar al Assad has arrived in Moscow, Russian state media has confirmed. Mr Assad and members of his family arrived in the city on Sunday, a Kremlin source told the TASS news agency. The source said: "Assad and his family members have arrived in Moscow. Russia, for humanitarian reasons, has granted them asylum."Mr Assad left the Syrian capital of Damascus after his government fell following a lightning offensive by anti-regime forces across the country - bringing his 24-year rule to an end.He left after giving orders for there to be a peaceful transfer of power, the Russian foreign ministry said earlier today. As Mr Assad fled, footage circulating on social media showed families ransacking presidential palaces in Damascus, with some taking selfies in the grand set...

Notre-Dame Cathedral has held its first mass since it reopened following the disastrous fire of 2019.French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, attended the liturgy at the Paris landmark, along with clergy, dignitaries, and guests. Nearly 170 bishops from France and around the world took part, as well as one priest from each of the parishes in the Paris diocese and one priest from each of the seven Eastern-rite Catholic churches, accompanied by worshippers from these communities. Image: Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich gave the inaugural mass. Pic: AP Image: Clergy at the mass at Notre Dame Cathedral. Pic: AP ...

Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the "departure" of Bashar al Assad as leader of Syria.Mr Assad has left office and the country after giving orders for there to be a peaceful transfer of power, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It followed a lightning offensive by anti-regime forces, with rebels entering Damascus last night.In a statement, the UK's prime minister said: "The developments in Syria in recent hours and days are unprecedented, and we are speaking to our partners in the region and monitoring the situation closely."The Syrian people have suffered under Assad's barbaric regime for too long and we welcome his departure. "Our focus is now on ensuring a political solution prevails, and peace and stability is restored."We call on all sides to protect civilians a...

Bashar al Assad started out as a doctor and ended up a mass murdering tyrant now on the run.The man who trained to save lives in Damascus and London would go on to take them in their hundreds of thousands, bombing hospitals and gassing his own people. He was a strangely unimpressive man to meet. Tall, slightly gauche, with a lisp and thin tufty moustache.Christopher Hitchens called him the human toothbrush. The writer recalled Hannah Arendt's phrase the "banality of evil" when he remembered meeting another dictator, Argentina's General Videla. But it applied equally well to Mr Assad.He was ordinary, more oddball than evil, with a high-pitched awkward laugh. Image: Bashar al Assad and his wife Asma Read more: Syria latest u...

Bashar al Assad's downfall marks an end to more than half a century of family rule, as rebel forces turned the tide in a civil war he had embraced.The authoritarian president ruled Syria for 24 years, five years short of his father's time in power, but the plan was never for him to take over the dynasty. Before his political career began to take shape, Assad was based in the UK, where he had an ophthalmology practice.Damascus 'freed' of Assad - live updatesA family tragedy would soon thrust him into the political fray - and his early days in Damascus stood in stark contrast to his exit. Eye doctor and computer geek Before Damascus, Assad was an eye doctor in London and his only official position in his home country was as head of the Syrian Computer Society.In the UK capital, he met his fu...

The Syrian government has fallen after a lightning offensive by anti-regime forces across the country - ending President Bashar al Assad's 24-year rule.Mr Assad has left office and the country after giving orders for there to be a peaceful transfer of power, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It did not say where he was, but said Russia had not been involved in the talks surrounding his departure.Moscow was in touch with all Syrian opposition groups, it said, and urged all sides to refrain from violence.Russia's military bases in Syria had been put on a state of high alert, but that there was no serious threat to them at the current time, the ministry added. Mr Assad's whereabouts now - and those of his wife Asma and their two children - remain unknown. ...

The lightning collapse of Bashar al Assad's regime in Syria exposes the brittleness of even the most brutal dictatorship when under pressure, but it also creates a security vacuum that carries great risk.Once the scenes of rebel euphoria subside on the streets, much will rest on the powerful group, Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which led the charge into Damascus overnight. Previously linked to al Qaeda, this Sunni Islamist militant faction is viewed as a terrorist organisation by many Western powers, including the UK.But the movement has sought to distance itself from its extremist roots and instead emphasise a commitment to tolerance of minorities.Read more: Latest updates from Syria Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video playe...

Rebel forces stormed though major cities across Syria in less than two weeks, culminating in the apparent downfall of Bashar al Assad.After initially vowing to fight back, the country's authoritarian president, who ruled for 24 years, has reportedly fled the capital city Damascus. With key allies Russia and Iran distracted, government defences crumbled under the weight of insurgent attacks.In a matter of days, the Assad family rule appears to have ended after 13 years of civil war that has ravaged the country.Here's how it unfolded. 26 November - attack on Aleppo The rebel attack began last Tuesday, targeting the northern city of Aleppo, which had been in government hands since 2016.30 November - Aleppo's captureSyria's military announced a withdrawal from the c...

Rebel forces claim to have taken control of the Syrian capital after storming through the country in less than two weeks.According to reports, authoritarian ruler Bashar al Assad has fled Damascus on a plane headed to an unknown destination, ending his 24-year rule. While Syrians celebrate in the streets with chants for freedom, attention will also turn to the insurgents and what happens next.Who are the rebels?The initial assault on regime forces, which began in the northern city of Aleppo last week, was carried out by a variety of Mr Assad's opponents.This included rebels under the banner of the Syrian National Army, backed by Turkey, but the offensive has mostly been led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS).Once known as the Nusra Front, a former wing of al Qaeda, HTS is said to h...