David Gritten
The Assad family ruled Syria for more than 50 years with an iron fist. Now that has come to an end.
Bashar al-Assad became president after the death in 2000 of his father Hafez, who had ruled for almost three decades.
In 2011, he brutally crushed a peaceful, pro-democracy uprising, sparking a devastating civil war in which more than half a million people have been killed and 12 million others have been forced to flee their homes.
Thirteen days ago, the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebel factions launched a major offensive in north-western Syria.
The rebels quickly captured the country's second-largest city, Aleppo, then swept southwards down the highway to the capital, Damascus, as the military collapsed.
Russia announced that Assad had stepped down and left Syria on Sunday, hours after the rebels entered Damascus and crowds gathered on the streets to celebrate. It later emerged that Assad had flown to Moscow and been granted asylum.
HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani meanwhile arrived in Damascus and told Syrians: "The future is ours."
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