Syrians stormed President Bashar al-Assad’s abandoned presidential palace in Damascus, looting the dictator’s belongings, posing behind his desk and revealing his extensive luxury car collection.
President Bashar al-Assad is believed to have fled the country to an undisclosed location on Sunday after a rebel uprising toppled his government.
His whereabouts remain unknown, and his forces appear to have disbanded, offering limited resistance to the rebel advance and allowing rebel fighters and civilians to enter the presidential palace without resistance. There is.
As rebels took control of the Syrian capital, videos were released showing fighters and civilians entering the vast new Shab Palace and combing through its rooms and grounds.
A ransacked room in the palace – Hussein Malla/AP
Rebel fighters sit in the office of the presidential palace – Omar Sanadiki/AP
Men, women and children were seen touring the palace and its large gardens, but the room was completely empty except for some furniture and a portrait of President Assad thrown on the floor.
One clip shows looters displaying President Assad’s luxury car collection. The video shows a tour of a large hangar filled with cars worth millions of pounds, including Ferraris, Aston Martins, Rolls-Royces, BMWs, Mercedes and what appears to be a Bugatti Veyron.
Another video shows two rebel fighters firing automatic weapons into the air as they enter the New Shab Palace, atop a hill overlooking west Damascus.
Another clip shows five fighters scouting inside a 510,000 square meter marble-floored building made up of three six-story buildings.
The hall is decorated with expensive paintings and wooden furniture. The video shows a Jacuzzi as the fighters enter one of the private bathrooms.
Large bathtub in the presidential palace
A telephone remained functional in what was believed to be the master bedroom, and the fighters also found a list of phone numbers believed to have been left behind by the fugitive dictator.
master bedroom
In addition to reconnaissance inside the palace, videos on X (formerly Twitter) show fighters destroying portraits of President Bashar al-Assad’s family and a person carrying an orange Louis Vuitton box up a staircase. is also shown.
In another of President Assad’s palaces in Aleppo, rebel soldiers found a photo of the Syrian leader as a young man wearing only a speedo.
In the night photo, Assad can be seen posing on the side of a boat with another man and two women also wearing swimsuits. Their identities are unknown. In response to the photo, a Syrian woman wrote to X: “Allah forgive you for ruining our morning with this scene.”
Photo of President Bashar Al Assad (far left) in a tiny swimsuit – X
Back in Damascus, people appeared unfazed by the armed fighters roaming the halls, and people could be seen taking pictures of children inside the palace.
“I came for revenge. They oppressed us incredibly,” Abu Omar, 44, told France’s AFP news agency. “I’m so happy to be in the middle of his house, so I’m taking pictures.”
His residence and presidential palace were strictly off limits until the fall of Assad’s regime – Hussein Malla/AP
The looting of Assad’s palace in Damascus comes after rebels launched a blitzkrieg attack last week and quickly took control of the country’s largest city, marking the end of a decades-long civil war in the Middle East. It happened after the reign came to an end. .
Until the fall of Assad’s regime, his residence and the presidential palace were strictly off limits to the general public.
As he moved from room to room, Abu Omar said he felt very happy. “I don’t feel fear anymore,” he added. “My only concern is that we (as Syrians) come together and build this country together.”
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