Assad reveals when he left Damascus

The ousted Syrian leader has said he planned to keep fighting and did not seek refuge until the capital had fallen

Exiled former Syrian leader Bashar Assad stated that he remained in Damascus until the early morning of December 8, contrary to reports suggesting he secretly escaped the country the day before.

In his first official statement since being deposed and fleeing the country earlier this month, Assad claimed on Monday that he left Syria only in the evening of December 8, adding that he initially planned to keep fighting rebel forces.

According to Assad, his departure from Syria “was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed.” On the contrary, he “did not consider stepping down or seeking refuge” until all hope was lost.

Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, was overthrown earlier this month when a coalition of armed opposition groups, dominated by Islamists from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), captured Damascus in a lightning offensive.

Read more Kremlin comments on Assad’s resignation

Assad claimed that he left Damascus only after the first groups of militants “infiltrated” the capital, and moved to Latakia “in coordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations.” 

However, upon arriving at the Russian Hmeimim airbase, he reportedly discovered that “our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen.”

He was evacuated to Russia from the Hmeimim base on the evening of December 8. “This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions,” Assad emphasized in his statement.

Read more Kremlin comments on future of military bases in Syria

Earlier this month, the Syrian ambassador to Moscow, Bashar al-Jaafari, condemned Assad’s departure from the country as a “shameful and humiliating” abandonment of his nation. The rapid fall of the Assad government is evidence of its unpopularity among the people and the army, the diplomat added.

The former Syrian president agreed to step down following back-channel talks with unspecified armed groups and subsequently left the country, instructing officials to conduct “a peaceful transfer of power,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Assad and his family were granted asylum in Russia.