As Syrian rebels advanced on the capital Damascus, Reuters reported that President Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane and headed to an unknown location. The information was revealed by two senior military officials to Reuters on the morning of December 8.
Reuters noted that the rebel forces' entry into the capital Damascus is expected to threaten the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad.
Two sources said they heard heavy gunfire in central Damascus, although it is not yet clear what the source of the explosions was.
Earlier, Syrian rebels announced that they had taken full control of the key city of Homs early on the morning of December 8. The rebels' capture of Homs came after just one day of fighting.
Syrian rebels have launched a lightning offensive, capturing Aleppo, Hama, Homs and advancing towards Damascus within days.
According to the Washington Post, the major coalition of rebel forces in Syria is led by the armed extremist Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Shams, or HTS.
The group has been steadily moving south along the M5 highway, Syria’s most important artery. By the morning of December 7, the group had captured Homs – an industrial hub and the “capital of the Syrian revolution.”
Notably, in addition to the cities captured by HTS, on December 6, another independent rebel faction against President Assad's government captured the city of Daraa in southern Syria.
