The Assad family’s secret evacuation tunnels have been revealed after Syrian rebels discovered a vast and luxurious underground network during a raid.
A video claiming to show Maj. Gen. Maher al-Assad’s “residence” shows a white staircase cut into the floor that spirals underground.
From there, descend two more stairs into the depths of white and gray.
The footage, said to have been shot by rebels, then cuts to show a vast network of empty, wide tunnels with high, curved ceilings.
Maher al-Assad, the brother of the ousted president and known for his ruthlessness, holds the rank of major general and commands the Syrian army’s elite 4th Division.
The video was captioned: “Giant tunnel complex under Maher Assad’s mansion, wide enough for Captagon and a truck full of gold.”
Another claimed that the tunnel was “equipped with ventilation, a living room, a bedroom, a lock and a metal door.”
Syrian rebels seized the capital Damascus without resistance on Sunday, with President Bashar al-Assad on the run after a 13-year civil war and 60 years of family dictatorship.
The ousted leader and his family fled the country and were granted asylum in Moscow, Russian state media confirmed. However, his brother’s whereabouts are unknown.
Assad family’s secret evacuation tunnels revealed after Syrian rebels stunned by vast extravagant underground network
Video claiming to show Maj. Gen. Maher al-Assad’s ‘residence’ shows tunnels
Press a button to open a giant mechanical door, giving access to even more tunnels.
Top rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani’s group was once al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, but it has softened its image to reassure members of minority sects and people abroad.
It came as dramatic pictures showed hundreds of Syrians carrying bags and suitcases gathered at the Lebanese border, hoping to return to their country.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said there was already evidence that Syrians were returning.
But experts believe that if the ouster of ousted President Bashar al-Assad leads to stabilization in the country, it could have the opposite effect, forcing thousands of Syrians to return home. There is.
An estimated seven million Syrians have fled Assad’s brutal regime since the civil war began in 2011, with most taking refuge in refugee camps in neighboring countries such as Turkey and Jordan.
Since then, more than 1 million people have settled in Europe, the majority of whom live in Germany. Between 2015 and 2021, 20,319 Syrian migrants came to the UK under the Government’s migration scheme.
The photo is a schematic diagram of the tunnel and the corridor shown in the video
The video is said to have been shot under President Maher al-Assad’s ‘residence’
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with President Al Assad at the Moscow Kremlin in July
Syrian refugees waiting to enter the country at the Lebanon-Syria border
A further 9,766 Syrians have been granted asylum in the UK after arriving irregularly in the past three years, making up around 8% of all Syrian nationals arriving by small boat in the past six years.
US President Joe Biden welcomed Assad’s ouster, but acknowledged it was also a time of risk and uncertainty.
U.S. Central Command announced Sunday that its forces have conducted dozens of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in central Syria.
CENTCOM said in a statement that the attack was aimed at preventing Islamic State from taking advantage of the current situation in Syria.
Jubilant rebel supporters flocked to Syrian embassies in cities around the world, taking down Assad’s red, white and black flag and replacing it with the opposition’s green, white and black flag. .
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the fall of Assad’s regime was thanks to the blows Israel inflicted on Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, once the linchpin of Assad’s security forces.
French President Emmanuel Macron said: “The barbaric state has collapsed.”
Lebanese Syrians flock to the Lebanese-Syrian Masna border to return home
Syrians wait overnight to warm themselves at the Silbegoz border gate in southern Turkey to enter Syria from Turkey.
Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, votes during the presidential elections in Douma, Syria. With her husband in a document photo taken in 2021
A military vehicle belonging to the Syrian government and confiscated by rebel forces bursts into flames after being attacked by regime forces in Hama province.
Supporters of the rebels who toppled the Assad regime entered some Syrian embassies around the world to raise the national flag.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the fall of the “barbaric regime” and called for “peace and stability”.
In Britain, Trafalgar Square was packed with people celebrating the news and refugees vowed to return to their homeland.
Muhammad Khatib came to Trafalgar Square with his son to celebrate. He said al-Assad was “the world’s worst dictator.”
He said he and his wife were “wanted” in Syria and “would love to go back and live in a big democracy.”
Others are looking forward to what Syria will look like in the future, calling it a “dream” come true.
Kremlin officials told state media that Syrian opposition leaders have agreed to guarantee the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic offices in Syria.
However, some Russian war bloggers said the situation around the base was extremely tense, and the sources did not say how long security would last.
An agreement to secure a Russian air base in Syria’s Latakia province and a Russian naval facility on the coast in Tartus will come as a relief to Moscow.
The facility is Russia’s only Mediterranean repair and supply hub, and the Russian government uses Syria as a transit base for shipping military contractors to and from Africa.
Western military analysts say the loss of Tartus would be a severe blow to Russia’s ability to project power in the Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa.
Rybar, an influential Russian war blogger close to the Russian Ministry of Defense, has more than 1.3 million followers on his Telegram channel, and says that no matter what the official position of the Russian government is, the situation around the base is serious. He said it was a cause for concern.
Rebels carrying out blitzkrieg attacks in Syria aim to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, an Islamist leader said in an interview published on December 6.
Local residents celebrate the capture of Hama city center and surrounding villages by rebel forces led by HTS (Hayyet Tahrir al-Sham) on December 6th.
Rebels take photo that appears to show Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wearing only a speedo after capturing Aleppo’s palace
The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime is almost certain (Photo: Rebels passing a damaged government vehicle in Hama)
“Russia’s military presence in the Middle East is a fine line,” Leiber said.
Rescue teams are fighting to free Syria’s ‘Red Prison’, described as a hellhole, but rebels who freed caged women and children are still unable to access the trapped men. It has been reported.
Saidnaya prison near Damascus, nicknamed the “Human Slaughterhouse”, is said to have “high-security underground” cells inside a red building.
Unverified footage showed rebels breaking down walls and “opening cells one by one” and were said to have rescued “hundreds of prisoners, including women and young children”. There is.
However, there is also information that the men are being held in solitary confinement cells on the third basement floor of a section dubbed the “Red Prison.”
According to Al Jazeera, between 5,000 and 13,000 prisoners have reportedly been hanged at the military prison, dubbed an “industrial torture chamber”, since 2011.
Heartbreaking video shows rebel soldiers shouting “Allahu akbar” (meaning “God is great”) as they free hundreds of prisoners, then exit through an unlocked cell door. The video showed a child coming out looking confused.
This comes in the wake of revelations of an alleged Russian conspiracy to spread fake news about Assad’s “plane crash.”
Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security posted on X alleging that Russia “covered the traces” of helping Assad escape by spreading false reports that he died in the crash.
