Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country as rebels swept into the capital of Damascus on Saturday, bringing an end to his 24 years in power.
It is not yet known where Assad may fled to, although reports suggest his flight may have taken him to the United Arab Emirates.
Images have emerged from Damascus showing Syrians breaking into Assad’s presidential palace and looting the country’s central bank.
The operation that toppled Assad started in late November when Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported Turkish-backed groups in the Syrian National Army launched an offensive against the pro-government Syrian Arab Army.
HTS is an Islamist group with previous links to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, but it has tried to adopt a more moderate approach in recent years.
The group’s leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani broke from Al-Qaeda in 2016, and has stopped wearing turbans, instead opting for military clothing.
Despite his efforts to portray himself as a moderate, the West still views his group as a terrorist organisation.
Thomas Pierret, a specialist in political Islam, told the Guardian: “He is a pragmatic radical.
“In 2014, he was at the height of his radicalism. Since then, he has moderated his rhetoric.”
Jolani was born in Saudi Arabia in 1982, but was raised in Damascus by his wealthy family.
He was reportedly inspired by the September 11 2001 attack on New York.
The Middle East Eye reported: “It was as a result of this admiration for the 9/11 attackers that the first signs of jihadism began to surface in Jolani’s life, as he began attending secretive sermons and panel discussions in marginalised suburbs of Damascus.”
He later became a member of Al-Qaeda. He splintered with other Islamic extremists in the region because did not want to launch revenge attacks on the West, according to reports.
Now the leader of HTS, Jolani’s group has faced allegations of brutally oppressing anyone questioning their authority in parts of Syria they control.
Earlier this week, Jolani spoke to CNN about his goals in Syria.
He said: “When we talk about objectives, the goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal.
“The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it… the Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time, and later the Russians also tried to prop it up. But the truth remains: this regime is dead.”
