Celebrations have erupted in Syria’s capital Damascus after opposition fighters announced on state television that the 24-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad had come to an end after 13 years of war.

Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus on Sunday, chanting “Freedom”.

The head of Syria’s main opposition group abroad, Hadi al-Bahra, declared the capital was now “without Bashar al-Assad” after the fighters’ lightning offensive.

The opposition said al-Assad had left Damascus. His whereabouts remain unknown.

As Syrians expressed joy, Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said he was ready to support the continuity of governance and prepared to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.

Syria’s war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against al-Assad’s authoritarian rule, quickly morphed into a full-blown conflict that dragged in foreign powers. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed while millions were forced from their homes in one of the world’s largest refugee crises.