Bashir al-Assad gets asylum in Russia, rebels sweep through Syria

Some men could be seen looting a shopping centre on the road between the capital and the Lebanese border, stuffing goods into plastic bags or into pick-up trucks. 

Syrians celebrate the arrival of opposition fighters in Damascus, Syria, Sunday Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syria rebel fighters raced into Damascus unopposed on Sunday, overthrowing president Bashar al-Assad and ending nearly six decades of his family's iron-fisted rule after a lightning advance that reversed the course of a 13-year civil war.

In one of the most consequential turning points in the Middle East for generations, the fall of Assad's government wiped out a bastion from which Iran and Russia exercised influence across the Arab world. Moscow gave him and his family asylum.