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The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule over the Arab country after the militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stormed and captured the capital Damascus.

In a statement on Sunday morning, the HTS militants declared that they had captured the capital, confirming reports of the fall of the Assad government.

Earlier in the day, Reuters quoted an unnamed officer as saying that the Syrian army command notified officers that the Assad government had fallen.

Ready to cooperate with power transfer: Syrian PM

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali expressed the government’s readiness to “extend its hand” to the militants and hand over its functions to a transitional government.

“I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” he said in a video statement.

He also noted that he would go to his office to continue work in the morning, calling on Syrian citizens not to deface public property.

Foreign-backed militants, led by the HTS, waged a surprise two-pronged attack on Syria’s Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib on November 27.

Soon afterward, they captured several Syrian cities, including Hama, Homs, Dara’a, Suwayda, and Damascus.

HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani called on militants to leave state institutions unharmed.

“To all military forces in the city of Damascus, it is strictly forbidden to approach public institutions, which will remain under the supervision of the former Prime Minister until they are officially handed over, and it is also forbidden to fire bullets into the air,” he said in a statement released on Telegram.

HTS declares fall of Assad government

In their statement, the HTS militant group, which called itself the Syrian National Transitional Council, announced the toppling of the Assad government.

It further vowed to “preserve the unity and sovereignty of Syrian territory, … protect all citizens and their property, regardless of their affiliations,” and “achieve comprehensive national reconciliation.”

Syrian state television aired a video statement by a group of militants saying that President Assad has been overthrown and all prisoners have been released.

“The city of Damascus has been liberated,” said one of the militants who read the statement.

“All the prisoners have been released from the prison of Damascus. We wish all our fighters and citizens preserve and maintain the property of the state of Syria. Long live Syria.”

‘In cooperation with UN'

Head of the Syrian National Coalition, Hadi al-Bahra, said, “The situation is safe, and there is no room for revenge or retaliation.”

“Government institutions will resume operations within two days” and that the “transfer of power will take place in cooperation with the United Nations,” he told Al-Arabiya.

Israeli forces have captured two towns in the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and are moving towards the neighboring Dara’a province, after militant groups took control of the Arab country.

Israeli troops seized the towns of Madinat al-Baath and Hader after they pushed into the buffer zone in the Quneitra area and launched artillery shelling in the strategic region.

According to Israeli media outlets, the incursion was launched following heavy shelling of surrounding areas.

Israeli army soldiers are now heading towards areas in Dara’a, located about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Damascus.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers had taken over a Syrian army outpost at the summit of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights.

Soldiers from Shaldag, the Israeli Air Force’s commando unit, captured the outpost “without encountering resistance,” according to Kan TV News.

The commander of the Israeli military’s Northern Command, Ori Gordin, and the commander of the Training Command, David Zini, also visited the summit, the broadcaster said.

The Syrian army reportedly left the post amid the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Israeli media also reported the entry of the regime’s tanks into Khan Arnabeh, which is to the northeast of Quneitra and five kilometers from the border of the occupied Golan.

The regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the decades-old agreement with Syria had collapsed, and he ordered Israeli forces to grab a buffer zone in the Golan Heights after Syrian soldiers had abandoned their positions.

The Israeli military also issued a warning, calling on residents of five towns in southern Syria to stay in their homes until further notice as it carried out dozens of air strikes against Syrian military bases, facilities and weapon depots.

These towns are Ofania, Quneitra, al-Hamidiyah, western al-Samadaniyah, and al-Qahtaniyah. 

Armed groups, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants, announced on Sunday that they had fully captured the Syrian capital and confirmed reports of the fall of the Assad government.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.

In a significant milestone, the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School in Newpadpu, Harekala, has introduced a bilingual Kannada-English medium this academic year, a move spearheaded by Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba. The school has so far received 13 admissions for its Class 1 bilingual program.

This initiative is part of a broader effort by the state government, which approved 38 schools across the district to launch bilingual mediums. Expressing his delight, Hajabba shared that he had been advocating for a bilingual school for years. "The bilingual medium will greatly benefit students in this region who otherwise rely on private schools. However, we currently face a shortage of classrooms. Construction of two additional classrooms is underway, and once completed, we expect higher admissions," he said.

The school had previously been permitted to introduce LKG and UKG classes in the last academic year. According to the school’s headmistress, Rajeshwari, while the pre-primary sections have seen good enrolment, the bilingual Class 1 faced challenges, securing only 13 students. She attributed this to the late notification of permission, which arrived a month after the academic year began, leading many children to enroll elsewhere.

Rajeshwari remains optimistic about the future. "We expect better admissions next academic year as awareness about bilingual education at this government school grows," she said, adding that the classroom shortage will soon be addressed.

Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) Venkatesha Subraya Patagara noted that bilingual schools across Dakshina Kannada have generally received a positive response, with some schools enrolling more than 100 students. The effort to offer bilingual education in government schools marks a step forward in providing affordable, quality education to underserved regions.