Just a week ago, the regime still maintained control over significant portions of the country. So how did it all unravel so quickly?

On November 27, a coalition of opposition fighters launched a major offensive against pro-government forces.

The first attack came at the front line between opposition-held Idlib and the neighbouring governorate of Aleppo.

Three days later, the opposition fighters took Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo.

Named Operation Deterrence of Aggression, this offensive was fought by several armed Syrian opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by allied Turkish-backed factions.

HTS – led by Abu Mohammed al-Julani – is the largest and most organised, having ruled the governorate of Idlib for years before this offensive.

Other groups that took part in the operation were the National Front for Liberation, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Izza and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, as well as Turkish-backed factions that fall under the umbrella of the Syrian National Army.

Militarily as well, the al-Assad regime has been weak for years, relying on Russian and Iranian military support to prop it up.

But, analysts say, Russia is bogged down in its invasion of Ukraine and Iran and their Lebanese ally Hezbollah have been damaged by Israeli attacks – they could not come to the rescue of the faltering Syrian army.

Nobody knows where al-Assad is yet.

He and his Defence Minister Ali Abbas are both in unknown locations, according to Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, who told Al Arabiya news website that they had lost communication on Saturday night.

According to SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman, al-Assad left Syria via Damascus international airport while it was secured by the army. Soldiers abandoned it shortly after and opposition fighters took control of it.

Has the whole government fled?
No, Prime Minister al-Jalali has stayed, speaking to the press early on Sunday to say he had remained to make sure things kept running.