Syria's government has fallen after a lightning offensive by insurgents

Syria's government appears to have fallen after opposition fighters said they had entered Damascus following a stunning advance and a Syrian opposition war monitor reported that President Bashar Assad had left the country.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group, said Assad took a flight from Damascus and left early Sunday. There was no immediate official statement from the Syrian government.

It was the first time opposition forces had reached Damascus since 2018 when Syrian troops recaptured areas on the outskirts of the capital following a yearslong siege.

The night before, opposition forces had taken the central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as government forces abandoned it.

The rapidly developing events have shaken the region. Lebanon said it was closing all its land border crossings with Syria except for one that links Beirut with Damascus. Jordan closed a border crossing with Syria, too.

Eight key countries gathered with the U.N. special envoy on Syria on the sidelines of the Doha Summit for two hours of discussions Saturday night, and more will follow. The U.N. envoy seeks urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.”