Live Update From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Reports: Assad fled Damascus planning to fly to Russia; unclear if he left Syria
Multiple Israeli news outlets cite official saying they don’t know where ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is and whether he has left the country.
Channel 12 cites unnamed Israeli officials saying it is not certain Assad has fled Syria.
The Walla news site says that according to an Israeli official, Assad flew last night from Damascus to Russia’s Hmeimim airbase, intending to continue from there to Moscow. A US official is cited by the outlet as saying the US spotted Assad leaving the capital and “we believed he was planning to escape to Russia.”
However, there are no current indications the Assad has left Syria.