How it happened: Two seismic weeks that toppled Syria’s government

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Half a century of rule by the Assad family in Syria has crumbled with astonishing speed. It has been less than two weeks since insurgents burst out of a rebel-held enclave and converged on the capital, Damascus, taking city after city in a matter of days. Opposition forces led by the jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham swept across the country and entered Damascus with little or no resistance as the Syrian army melted away. President Bashar Assad, Syria’s ruler for 24 years, was reported to have fled the country and Russian state media reported that he was in Moscow. It’s a stunning development in Syria’s devastating 13-year civil war.