ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - After nearly two weeks of a sweeping offensive, Syrian rebels announced on Sunday that President Bashar al-Assad fled the country and they have entered the capital city of Damascus, calling on Syrian refugees abroad to return to “a free Syria”.

“Damascus is free of the tyrant,” the rebel factions said on Telegram.

"The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled" and "we declare the city of Damascus free", the opposition factions said, adding that "after 50 years of oppression under Baath rule, and 13 years of crimes and tyranny and (forced) displacement... we announce today the end of this dark period and the start of a new era for Syria”.

The anti-government factions in a message broadcast on state television on Sunday morning said that they had toppled Assad and freed detained prisoners while calling for the protection of state property.

A group of people at the state television read a statement, announcing "the liberation of the city of Damascus and the fall of the tyrant Bashar al-Assad and the release of all the unjustly detained from the regime prisons."

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali, for his part, announced in a post on Facebook that he was ready to "cooperate" with any leadership chosen by the people and for any handover process after rebels said Assad had fled the country.

"This country can be a normal country that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world... but this issue is up to any leadership chosen by the Syrian people. We are ready to cooperate with it (that leadership) and offer all possible facilities," Jalali said in a speech broadcast on his Facebook account.

Abu Mohammed al-Julani, leader of the Syrian rebel Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which spearheaded the major military campaign against the Damascus government that started on November 27, ordered their forces not to approach official institutions in Damascus, saying they would remain under the prime minister until an official handover.  

"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," Julani said in a statement on Telegram. "It is forbidden to shoot into the air."

The rapid advance and takeover of Damascus came only hours after the opposition factions declared they had controlled the city of Homs, a third major city seized by the rebels after Hama and Aleppo. Anti-government groups on Saturday dealt another major blow to Assad’s regime after seizing control of the towns of Daraa, Suwayda, and Qunaitra. 

Last updated at 09:30 am with a statement by rebel groups from the Syrian state television