A CNN Brazil obtained exclusive access to the presidential palaces in Damascus, Syria, three days after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and the seizure of power by the coalition of rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group.
The report, carried out on December 11, shows a scenario of destruction in .
The first palace visited was devastated – and the luxury of the buildings inside demonstrates a contrast with the reality of a country where more than 70% of the population lives in poverty.
Official government documents were scattered across the floor.
In the second palace, a painting of Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Assad, was found completely destroyed at the entrance.
As the rebels organize themselves and a new government begins to take shape, Omeyad Square, the main point in Damascus, has become the scene of celebrations for the fall of Assad.
Understand the conflict in Syria
The Assad family regime was overthrown in Syria on December 8, after 50 years in power, when rebel groups took over the capital Damascus.
President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and is in Moscow after gaining asylum, according to a source in Russia.
Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.
The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.
Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.
Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”
Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to combat the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.
After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.
