Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Jalali has delivered a televised address to the nation amid reports that President Bashar al-Assad’s plane was shot down as he attempted escape from Damascus. The PM has expressed readiness to work with the new regime as Sytrian rebels claimed they had control of Damascus.
“Any leadership chosen by the Syrian people, we are ready to co-operate with it…,” said Jalali.
Syrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa released a video as well. He said that going near public institutions was prohibited and that these institutions will remain under supervision of Jalali, whom he regarded as “former prime minister”, until the official handover.
The Syrian civil war, raging for last 13 years, had largely become a stalemate between Assad’s government forces and rebels. But on November 27, Hayat Tahrir al-sham (HTS), a rebel group, launched a lightning offensive with allied rebel groups. This saw the rebels quickly capturing large swathes of land in Syria including major cities like Aleppo, Homs and now Damascus.
(More to follow shortly.)
