Syrian president leaves Damascus on plane as army says his rule ends – reports
The Syrian government appears to have fallen after a lightning offensive by rebels.
President Bashar al Assad fled Damascus on a plane for an unknown destination, according to two senior Syrian army officers speaking to the Reuters news agency, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syrian president Bashar al Assad has fled Damascus, according to multiple sources. File pic: Reuters
Syria’s army command has now notified officers that his 24-year rule has ended, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move told Reuters.
Hours earlier, the rebels said they had gained complete control of the key city of Homs after only a day of fighting.
Read more: Latest updates from Syria
An image of Bashar al Assad riddled with bullets at the provincial government office building in Hama. Pic: AP
Syria’s prime minister said he is ready to hand over the government to the opposition in a peaceful transition.
“I am here in my home,” said Ghazi al-Jalali.
“I have not left it and do not intend to leave, except in a peaceful manner that ensures the continued functioning of public institutions and state facilities, promoting security and reassurance for our fellow citizens.”
Rebel fighters in the Homs countryside on Saturday. Pic: Reuters
He said he would go to his office to continue work in the morning and called on Syrian citizens not to deface public property.
He did not comment on reports Bashar al Assad has fled Damascus.
Key locations in Syria as well as the Iraqi town of Al Qaim, where troops are seeking refuge
Soon after, the rebels announced it was prohibited to go near public institutions that will remain under the supervision of the “former prime minister”.
The rebels, who said Damascus was “now free of Assad”, are expected to broadcast their first statement to the Syrian people on state television, two rebel sources said.
Thousands of Syrians, in cars and on foot, have congregated at a main square in the city chanting for freedom, according to Reuters.
In Homs, thousands of people poured on to the streets after the army withdrew from the city, dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free” and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al Assad”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Protesters brought down a statue of the late father of Syria’s president in a main square few miles from Damascus city centre.
Protesters on Saturday brought down a statue of the president’s late father in a main square in a suburb a few miles from the centre of the capital.
The country’s international airport in Damascus has been abandoned and rebels say they have entered the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital and freed inmates there.
“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,” said the rebels.
Gunfire has been reported in the centre of Damascus, two residents told Reuters on Sunday, although it was not immediately clear what the source of the shooting was.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the main rebel leader, called the capture of Homs a historic moment and urged fighters not to harm “those who drop their arms”.
They have also claimed Deir el Zor in the east, Suweida, Quneitra and Deraa in the south.
Israel has said 24 hostages are alive in Gaza – after Donald Trump said there were 21.
The US president told reporters on Tuesday that three more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza had died – alarming their families.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostage issues, said the Palestinian militant group was holding 59 hostages of whom 24 were alive and 35 dead – figures unchanged since before Mr Trump‘s comments.
He said 54 of the 59 were Israeli citizens and five of them were foreign nationals.
“All families of the kidnapped are always updated with the information we have about their loved ones,” he said.
The group representing the families of hostages had asked the Israeli government to share any new information with them immediately following Mr Trump’s comments.
It argues that Israel should stop the fighting and negotiate the release of the remaining hostages.
“This is the most urgent and important national mission,” it said on a post on X.
Most of the hostages returned alive to Israel so far have been released as part of deals with Hamas during two temporary ceasefires in late 2023 and early 2025.
The most recent ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners fell apart in March.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Hamas took 251 hostages in its attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 in which it killed 1,200 people.
Israel has responded with an air and ground assault on Gaza.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel says its two war aims are to destroy Hamas and release the hostages.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Israel announces plans for Gaza
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an expansion of its offensive on Gaza – increasing its hold on the territory, for an indefinite amount of time.
The plan includes seizing Gaza, holding on to captured territories, forcibly displacing Palestinians to southern Gaza and taking control of aid distribution along with private security companies.
Pakistan says it has been targeted in a missile attack by India.
Three missiles were fired by India across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory, said Pakistani security officials.
They hit locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, according to officials.
The Indian defence ministry said it had launched Operation Sindoor as it struck “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”.
It said a total of nine sites were targeted.
A Pakistan military spokesman said the country will respond to the attacks.
Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours have been escalating following a militant gun attack in the disputed area of Kashmir last month.
At least 26 people, most of whom were Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen at a beauty spot near the resort town of Pahalgam in the Indian-controlled part of the region on 22 April.
India described the massacre as a “terror attack” and said it had “cross border” links, blaming Pakistan for backing it.
Pakistan denied any connection to the atrocity, which was claimed by a previously unknown militant group called the Kashmir Resistance.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
24 April: Pakistani minister warns ‘all-out war’ possible
Since the attack, Pakistan’s military has been on high alert after a cabinet minister said Islamabad had credible intelligence indicating that India could attack.
And Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif told Sky News’ The World With Yalda Hakim that the world should be “worried” about the prospect of a full-scale conflict involving the two nations.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
Friedrich Merz has become Germany’s new chancellor after winning a second vote in the country’s parliament.
He unexpectedly failed in the first parliamentary ballot on Tuesday morning – the first time a chancellor has failed to be elected at the first attempt since the Second World War.
Initially, needing a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot, he received 310 – falling short by just six votes. On the second ballot he managed 325.
It means Mr Merz, the leader of the country’s CDU/CSU conservatives, has become the 10th chancellor since the end of the Second World War.
Friedrich Merz during his swearing in ceremony. Pic: Reuters
He had been expected to win comfortably after securing a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).
It meant at least 18 coalition MPs failed to back him in the first round of voting.
Announcing the second vote, Jens Spahn, the head of the Union bloc in parliament, said: “The whole of Europe, perhaps even the whole world, is watching this second round of elections.”
Earlier, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, said on X that Mr Merz’s failure to secure a majority in the first round showed the “weak foundation” on which his coalition was built, adding that it had been “voted out by the voters”.
Mr Merz, 69, succeeds Olaf Scholz and has vowed to prioritise European unity and the continent’s security.
Mr Merz (R) shakes hands with outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz (L). Pic: Reuters
His in-tray includes the Ukraine war and global tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent congratulations to Mr Merz and wished him “every success”.
The Ukrainian president added that the future of Europe was “at stake” and security will “depend on our unity”.
Mr Merz will also have to decide what to do about the AfD, which mainstream parties have refused to work with.
A “firewall” against collaborating with strongly right-wing parties has been in place since the end of the war.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
During federal elections in late February, the AfD scored its best-ever result while Olaf Scholz’s SPD dropped to about 16%.
The AfD is the second largest party in the lower house of the Bundestag and was officially designated as extremist last week by Germany’s domestic spy agency.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway