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Deposed Syrian President Early on Sunday morning, Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane in Damascus to an unknown destination. while rebels captured the city and ousted him from power after 24 years as president, according to two senior army officers.

Assad has not spoken publicly since the surprise rebel offensive a week ago. when rebels captured northern Aleppo in a surprise attack and then advanced on a string of towns as the fronts collapsed.

His whereabouts are now unknown. as well as his wife Asma and their two children.

The Syrian Airlines plane took off from Damascus airport around the time rebels were reported to have captured the capital, according to the website Flytradar.

The plane initially flew towards the coastal region of Syria. stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect, but then abruptly turned 180 degrees and flew in the opposite direction for several minutes before disappearing from the map.

Reuters couldn’t decide right away who was on board

Two Syrian sources reported that there was there is a very high probability that Assad could have died if he had been on the plane, because he suddenly turned 180 degrees and disappeared from the map according to the site Flytradar.

“He disappeared from radar, perhaps the transponder was turned off, but I think the best chance is that the plane was shot down…” A Syrian source reported this without going into details.

The plane took off from Damascus shortly after rebels took the central city of Homs, isolating the capital from the coast, where Russian ally Assad has air and naval bases.

The only tracked flight leaving Syria after midnight, visible on Flightradar24, a flight tracking site, departed Homs for the United Arab Emirates, but it was hours after the rebels captured the city.

The rebel offensive has gained momentum over the past week. There were suggestions that he sought refuge in Moscow or Iran. his other main ally.

Syrian state media On Saturday they said he was still in Damascus. They have not commented on his whereabouts since then.

He visited Moscow shortly before the rebel offensive. and Iranian news agencies on Saturday published a photo of him meeting with a senior Iranian official in Damascus.

The Syrian army command notified its officers that The Assad regime has come to an end. said Reuters A Syrian official announced the measure after a rapid rebel offensive that took the world by surprise. Syrian rebels said Damascus is “now free of Assad.”

Thousands of people in cars and on foot They gathered in Damascus’s main square, chanting “Freedom.” after the long rule of the Assad family, witnesses said.

“We celebrate with the Syrian people the news of the release of our prisoners. and liberation from their chains, and we declare the end of the era of injustice in the Sednaya prison,” the rebels said.

Sednaya is a large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus where the Syrian government held thousands of people.

While the Syrians expressed their joy andPrime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said he was ready to support continuity of government and are ready to cooperate with whatever leadership the Syrian people choose.

(according to information from Reuters)