Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime fell.
Now the former dictator is speaking out for the first time after fleeing the country.
“Syria will be free,” he writes on the Telegram messaging service.
Syrian ousted President Bashar al-Assad has reportedly spoken out for the first time since he lost power over the country.
In a post on Telegram via the Syrian news agency Sana, he calls the rebels in Syria terrorists.
“Syria will be free and independent again,” he writes on the messaging service.
Didn’t plan to leave
He goes on to write that he had no intention of leaving Syria.
“On the contrary, I stayed in Damascus and performed my duties early Sunday morning. While terrorists invaded Damascus, I went to Latakia in coordination with our Russian allies,” he writes.
Received asylum in Russia
It was on December 9 that various rebel groups led by the Islamist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took over power in Syria from Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The dictator’s fall sparked celebrations among Syrians around the world, but it remains unclear what future the war-torn country faces.
Bashar al-Assad has been granted asylum in Russia – a country he had as an ally during his rule.