Timeline of key events in Syrian rebels’ 13-year fight to take down Assad

An opposition fighter fires his AK-47 into the air in celebration at the takeover of Damascus (Hussein Malla/AP)

The Assad family’s 50-year, often brutal rule of Syria is over after a lightning rebel advance reached the capital Damascus in the early hours of Sunday.

President Bashar Assad and other top officials vanished, their whereabouts unknown, as joyful crowds gathered in central squares to celebrate their downfall.