People celebrate fall of Assad in capital

Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting "Freedom"

DAMASCUS, Dec 08 (Reuters/AFP): Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.

Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting "Freedom", witnesses said.

"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.

Sednaya is a large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus where the Syrian government detained thousands. A Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus airport around the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels, according to data from the Flightradar website.

The aircraft initially flew towards Syria's coastal region, a stronghold of Assad's Alawite sect, but then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.

Just hours earlier, rebels announced they had gained full control of the key city of Homs after only a day of fighting, leaving Assad's 24-year rule dangling by a thread.

Intense sounds of shooting were heard in the centre of Damascus, two residents said on Sunday, although it was not immediately clear what the source of the shooting was.

Rebel chief orders forces not

to approach govt institutions

The leader of Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, ordered forces Sunday 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, and adding: "It is forbidden to shoot into the air."

UN envoy voices 'cautious

hope' for Syria

The UN envoy for Syria said the country was at "a watershed moment" on Sunday after rebels declared they had taken the capital, Damascus.

Describing Syria's drawn-out civil war as a "dark chapter (that) has left deep scars", special envoy Geir Pedersen said: "Today we look forward with cautious hope to the opening of a new one-one of peace, reconciliation, dignity and inclusion for all Syrians".

"Today marks a watershed moment in Syria's history-a nation that has endured nearly 14 years of relentless suffering and unspeakable loss," he said, extending his "deepest solidarity to all who have borne the weight of death, destruction, detention and untold human rights violations".

President Bashar al-Assad's reported flight from Damascus comes less than two weeks after the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a lightning offensive challenging more than five decades of domination by the Assad family.

Assad had ruled Syria since 2000, when he inherited power from his father.

Since 2011, he had overseen a crackdown on the democracy movement, which began with peaceful protests.

Syrians in Damascus trample on

toppled statue of Assad's father

Syrians in the capital Damascus cheered on Sunday as they trampled on a toppled statue of President Bashar al-Assad's father Hafez, AFPTV images showed.

Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000, setting up a paranoid, brutal system of government that his son inherited. On Sunday, Islamist-led rebels declared Bashar al-Assad had