Syria opposition leader al-Jolani arrives in Damascus

Syria’s opposition forces said Sunday the leader of the “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” group, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, arrived in Damascus hours after fighters seized the capital and said they ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Identifying him by his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, the statement on Telegram said he had “knelt down prostrating to God in thanks” on the ground after arriving in the Syrian capital.

A video showed him kneeling in a field and bringing his head to the ground.

Syrians woke up to a changed country Sunday, as opposition forces swept into Damascus less than two weeks into a lightning offensive declaring they had toppled “tyrant” al-Assad, whose whereabouts are unknown after he reportedly fled Syria.

A statement that was read on Syrian state television, which the opposition took over, quoted al-Jolani as saying: “We continue to work with determination to achieve the goals of our revolution… We are determined to complete the path we started in 2011.”

That year, al-Assad cracked down on peaceful pro-democracy protesters, triggering a complex conflict that drew in foreign forces.

The televised statement said that “we will not stop fighting until all the rights of the great Syrian people are secured. The future is ours and we are moving towards victory.”