A man burns a picture of Bashar Assad close to Syria’s border with Lebanon. Rebels launched a shock offensive across Syria in late November, ousting Assad and ending more than half a century of the Assad family regime. (Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/Zuma Press/dpa/TNS) Sally Hayden/SOPA Images/Zuma Pr TNS
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian insurgents on Wednesday lifted a curfew they had imposed on Damascus after reaching the capital three days ago, urging people to resume business as usual and help rebuild the new Syria following the fall of President Bashar Assad.
Assad, who ruled Syria for more than two decades, fled the country as rebels advanced on Damascus Sunday after making major territorial gains in a lightning offensive.
The head of the rebel alliance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, Ahmed al-Sharaa - formerly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohamed al-Joulani - on Wednesday said the grouy would have no mercy in hunting down everyone who tortured the Syrian people.
"Those involved in the torture and killing of prisoners will not be pardoned," al-Sharaa said. He also urged foreign countries to hand over "criminals" who had fled to their cities.
Human rights activists estimate that in Syria's notorious Sednaya jail alone, more than 30,000 prisoners were either executed or died after torture, denial of medical care or from starvation between 2011 and 2018.
Assad's party suspends work
Assad's Baath Party announced the indefinite suspension of its work. A statement posted on the party's website Wednesday said its activity "will be suspended in all its forms until further notice."
It added that the party would hand over all belongings, vehicles and weapons in its possession to the Interior Ministry.
"All party properties and funds are placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance and the oversight of the Ministry of Justice and their proceeds are deposited in the Central Bank of Syria to be spent in accordance with the law by the current government," the statement said.
The Baath Party has been Syria's ruling party since the 1960s, initially under Assad's father Hafez, who ruled the country until his death in 2000.
Damascus airport prepares to reopen
Damascus International Airport could reopen as soon as Sunday, a Transport Ministry source told dpa.
"Damascus International Airport was subjected to theft and tampering with its contents," the source said on condition of anonymity. Work was under way to re-equip the facility, but some devices were not available in Syria and the repairs would take time.
The source said that "many devices, control panels and cables were stolen in addition to the airport's furniture, even the doors and windows."
Israeli troops in southern Syria
Four combat groups of the Israeli army are still deployed in southern Syria, the Israeli military said on Wednesday. A brigade combat team was responding to threats along the border and had confiscated disused Syrian army tanks, it added.
The aim of the Israeli operation is to ensure the security of the civilian population in the north of Israel, it said.
Other units apparently discovered a Syrian army outpost on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, within the buffer zone between Israel and Syria. They confiscated mines, explosives and missiles from an arms depot found at the outpost.
The Israeli military moved troops into the buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and neighboring Syria after Assad's ouster.
Israeli media have reported that combat troops have also been active just outside the buffer zone.
Since the overthrow of Assad, the Israeli Air Force has carried out massive bombing raids on military installations in Syria. It is said to be targeting suspected chemical weapons.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz on Wednesday and stressed the importance of "close consultation between the United States and Israel as events develop in Syria."
HTS fighters seize major city
Earlier, a monitoring group said Syrian opposition fighters led by HTS had taken full control of the major eastern city of Deir al-Zour from Kurdish-led forces.
Local fighters in Deir al-Zour, who were once loyal to Assad, have joined up with the HTS-led opposition coalition.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, have now withdrawn from Deir al-Zour, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said.
The SDF forces have taken positions in several villages east of the Euphrates River, which were once controlled by Iran-backed militias who supported Assad, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of contacts inside Syria.
Assad's abrupt fall at the weekend is having ramifications across the war-shattered country, where various rebel factions hold sway with the help of external backers.
Kurdish militias agree to leave Manbij
Syria's Kurdish militias, which are supported by the United States, said Wednesday they would leave the northern Syrian city of Manbij to Turkish-backed opposition forces under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.
The Kurdish fighters had captured the city from Islamic State militants in 2016.
Turkey considers the SDF militia to be an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, which it sees as a terrorist organization.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also confirmed that the Syrian National Army militia, which is supported by Turkey, has now taken control of Manbij.
The SNA is part of the HTS-led rebel alliance that ousted the regime.
Qatar to reopen embassy in Damascus
Qatar said it will reopen its embassy in Syria after more than 13 years. Doha is finalizing the necessary arrangements, Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said.
Since 2011, ousted President Bashar Assad's allies kept their embassies operating in Damascus - mainly Iran and Russia - while most Western counties and some Arab states closed theirs.
The United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in 2018.
Several Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Tunisia, followed after the 2023 earthquake that hit Syria, in which thousands died. Many Arab governments reached out to Assad's government with aid and support as top diplomats visited Damascus.
Qatar closed it embassy in July 2011, after a pro-Assad group attacked the building to protest Al Jazeera's coverage of the president's crackdown on protests, which turned into a civil war.
In the following years, Qatar supported opposition rebels in their fight against Assad.
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This story was originally published December 11, 2024, 10:37 PM.