Watch: Damascus mosque sees first Friday prayers after Assad regime toppled

Watch as Damascus residents prayed at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on the first Friday (13 December) after rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Syrians are celebrating the demise of Assad’s government after 13 years of civil war sparked by the president’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters following the Arab Spring.

A rebel coalition took control of the capital Damascus in a lightning offensive overnight on Sunday, 11 days after launching a major operation.

Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the end of Assad’s “barbaric regime.”

Russia, a close ally that has propped up the regime for years, said Assad left the country after negotiations with rebel groups and had given instructions to transfer power peacefully.

Mohammed al-Bashir has been named as the country’s interim leader and tasked with ushering in a stable government.

In a brief address on state television on Tuesday, he announced that representatives of the rebels and the ousted government had agreed for him to act as caretaker until 1 March.

"Today we held a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime," he said.