Boy with the hope of a nation: Shocking moment toddler is freed from brutal Syrian regime prison
8 December 2024, 23:57 | Updated: 9 December 2024, 07:54
A boy has captured the hope of a nation as he was freed from a brutal Syrian prison after rebels seized control of the nation from the Assad regime.
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A toddler was pictured walking out of his cell in Syria’s infamous Saydnaya military prison.
The lock-up was once described as "industrial torture chamber" of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
In the footage, the boy's confusion was met with cries from jubilant rebel fighters who had stormed the complex near the capital Damascus.
The boy is one of thousands of prisoners freed by islamist rebels since their lightning offensive started on November 29.
Assad was granted political asylum by Vladimir Putin on Sunday after rebels closed in on him following a lightning quick end to the Syrian civil war.
The war began with the Arab spring and had fallen out of the headlines after Syrian and Russian forces had largely kept control.
But rebels launched a surprise attack on Aleppo last week which quickly led to the fall of the regime on Sunday.
Russia has backed Assad throughout his rule - but had scald backed troop commitments in order to further its war in Ukraine prior to the regime's fall.
Russian state media said that Assad is in Moscow with his family - and earlier said that he had given the order for there to be a peaceful transition of power.
Russian state media outlet TASS said the Assad family have been given asylum in the Russian capital.
Rebels were pictured ransacking Assad's presidential palaces after he left the country.
Damascus erupted in celebrations following the fall of the Assad regime, as the Syrian leader fled the country on Sunday.
Alistair Burt, a former Middle East minister under Theresa May, told LBC: "It's a new opportunity [for Syrians] to express their views.
It means the world to them. And you only have to look at social media to see what it means.
For those who have taken part in the fighting both over the years and recently, it might mean something differently as they seek now be in a position to exercise power.
"How will they exercise that?"
But conflict is still raging in the nation, as Israeli forces launched strikes on Syrian military targets overnight.
Israeli forces have also seized a UN-patrolled border zone in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime on Sunday.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was to prevent any new hostile power from being able to "establish itself on our border".
Mr Netanyahu also described the fall of the regime led by Bashar al-Assad as a "historic day" for the region.
His address came after Israeli fighter jets reportedly struck weapons and ammunition depots in Damascus and in the south of Syria.
