'The plane made a U-turn, then disappeared from radar': Where did Bashar al-Assad go after leaving Damascus?
Vanished Mid-Flight Where Did Bashar al-Assad Go After Leaving Damascus?
David GirtonAhad, BBC NewsDecember,08/2024.
Pros of the Title:
1. Intriguing: Sparks curiosity with the idea of a mysterious disappearance.
2. Relevant: Aligns with trending geopolitical events and search interest.
3. Action-Oriented: Phrases like "vanished" and "where did he go" compel readers to click.
Cons of the Title:
1. Potentially Sensitive: Could be seen as speculative, depending on the political context.
2. Lack of Specificity: Doesn’t immediately clarify what the story entails beyond the mystery.
3. Overemphasis on Drama: May alienate readers looking for straightforward news coverage.
Hours after rebels took control of the Syrian capital, Damascus, ally Russia announced that President Bashar al-Assad had left Syria after resigning.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not give any information about his current whereabouts but it was the first official confirmation that he had left the country.
The last time Bashar al-Assad was pictured was a week ago, during a meeting with the Iranian foreign minister. That day, he reiterated his commitment to “crushing” the rebels who had rapidly seized control of parts of the country.
The militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies announced in the early hours of Sunday that “the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has left (Syria).”
The head of the British monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the plane reportedly carrying Bashar al-Assad “took off from Damascus International Airport in Syria and was then escorted by army security forces.”
Rami Abdel Rahman said he had information that the flight would take off at 10pm local time on Saturday.
The city of Homs was captured by rebels on Saturday night.
According to the Flight Radar 24 website, no flights took off from there during that time, but at 12:56 a.m., a Cham Wings Airlines Airbus A320 did depart for Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
The flight arrived in Sharjah as scheduled, but a diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates told reporters in Bahrain that he did not know whether Bashar al-Assad was in the United Arab Emirates.
The Reuters news agency, citing two senior Syrian military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Bashar al-Assad had left Damascus airport on a Syrian Air plane on Sunday morning.
According to Reuters, the Syrian Air Ilyushin IL-76T cargo plane took off from the airport at 3:59 a.m. for an unknown destination.
The plane initially flew east of Damascus, but shortly after, it turned northwest and headed toward the Syrian Mediterranean coast, according to Flight Radar 24. The area is considered a stronghold of Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect and is home to Russian naval and air bases.
The last time Bashar al-Assad was seen was a week ago during a meeting with the Iranian foreign minister.
The plane was flying over the central city of Homs when it suddenly made a U-turn at an altitude of 20,000 feet and began heading west again, gradually losing altitude.
It should be noted that the city of Homs was captured by the rebels by Saturday evening.
The plane's transponder signal was turned off at 4:39 a.m. Sunday morning, when it was flying 13 kilometers west of Homs and its altitude had decreased to 1,625 feet.
Flight Radar said in a post on social media platform X that the plane was “old and its transponder was of an older generation, so some data may have been lost.”
The post also said it was “flying in an area where GPS was jammed, so some data may have been lost,” and that it was not aware of any airports in the area.
There have been no reports of any plane crashes in the area.
Related Topics
#Syria #Middle_East
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