Image source, SyriaCivilDefe/X

Footage has been circulating of detainees being broken out of the notorious Saydnaya prison, where it is estimated that more than 30,000 prisoners were executed or died between 2011 and 2018.

There have been reports that within the prison, some people were trapped or hidden in secret underground areas, but one humanitarian group says it has found no evidence of this so far.

"To this moment, our teams who arrived at Saydnaya prison have not found any of the secret doors being talked about," a statement from the White Helmets reads.

Describing its operations, it adds: "The teams are using sound probes and search equipment as well as canine teams with trained dogs."

The White Helmets says that its teams are also being guided by people "who know the prison's entrances and secret passages" and adds that searches will continue "until we identify all its sections accurately".

Image source, PA Media

Reviewing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's (HTS) designation as a terror group “has got to be considered,” says UK cabinet minister Pat McFadden.

Some context: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is the Islamist militant group that spearheaded the offensive against Bashar al-Assad's regime in Damascus.

McFadden, whose government role includes responsibility for national security, says HTS has been proscribed “for quite a long time now” and the leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has “distanced himself in a way from the things that have been said in the past”.

Al-Jolani is “saying some of the right things” about respecting people’s rights, “so we’ll look at that in the days to come” he tells the BBC’s Today programme.

He adds that "it should be a relatively swift decision" given the speed of the situation on the ground.

Asked which factors will drive the decision to change HTS’s status, he says: "A lot will depend on whether statements about the protection of minorities and citizens are backed up."

The rapid collapse of the Assad family's regime saw a coalition of rebel groups seize Damascus on Sunday.

It's just turned 12:30 in the Syrian capital - here are some of the latest images:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Nicky Campbell's Radio 5 Live programme has begun - and today Gordon Smart, who's filling in for him, is focusing on how things look in Syria after the toppling of the Assad regime.

He'll be taking questions and talking to experts until 11:00 GMT.

You can watch along by pressing the Watch live button at the top of this page, and we'll bring you highlights from guests throughout the morning.

With many Syrians believed to be returning to the country after the fall of the Assad regime, there has been a warning they could be in "great danger" due to unexploded landmines - particularly in northern Syria.

Salem al Dairi from the Halo Trust, a humanitarian organisation which clears landmines from former warzones, says there is "widespread contamination from unexploded ordinance and landmines", carrying a "serious risk" for people returning.

"We have received many call-outs", he tells BBC World Service Newsday, with "war remnants found everywhere", including near schools and on agricultural land.

Al Dairi says he believes a "great effort" is need to get rid of the hazard, as "people will suffer for many years" to come.

As the rebels entered Damascus on Sunday, the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) announced an "end of the era of tyranny in the prison of Saydnaya", which has become a by-word for the darkest abuses of Assad's era.

In a 2022 report, ADMSP said Saydnaya "effectively became a death camp" after the start of the civil war, external.

It estimated that more than 30,000 detainees had either been executed or died as a result of torture, lack of medical care or starvation between 2011 and 2018. Citing accounts from the few released inmates, at least another 500 detainees had been executed between 2018 and 2021, it said.

In 2017, Amnesty International described Saydnaya as a "human slaughterhouse", in a report that alleged that executions had been authorised at the highest levels of the Assad government.

The government at that time dismissed Amnesty's claims as "baseless" and "devoid of truth", insisting that all executions in Syria followed due process.

We shared detail earlier of reports from survivors of Syria's notorious Saydnaya prison that people are being detained in hidden underground cells.

Video has been circulating online and through news outlets including Al Jazeera of what appears to be efforts to access lower parts of the prison.

In it, a man can be seen using a type of post to knock out a lower wall, revealing a dark space behind.

Other footage has shown prisoners being freed - including a small child being held with his mother. He is shown in a video of women being released that was posted by the Turkey-based Association of Detainees and The Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP).

"He [Assad] has fallen. Don't be scared," a voice on the video says, apparently trying to reassure the women that they were now safe.

Video verified by AFP showed Syrians rushing to see if their relatives were among those released from Saydnaya, where thousands of opposition supporters are said to have been tortured and executed under the Assad regime.

You can watch some of this latest footage below:

"I haven't slept like that for years. I haven't had this chance of having a relaxing sleep like that for 14 years,“ says Abdulkafi Alhamdo of the ousting of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

"This is one of the few days I don't have nightmares," he adds.

Speaking from Aleppo, the activist against Assad's regime, tells the BBC's Today programme that "all of Syria is happy".

"All of Syria is starting a new time, a new day. Syria is turning from darkness into light," says an elated Alhamdo.

Is he concerned about the celebrations turning into chaos or even civil war? "Aleppo is one of the calmest cities ever, it is very calm, no armed groups on the streets," Alhamdo says confidently.

"Now Aleppo is a very good example of how Syria will look like, how it's organised, how it's safe, how there are no violations."

What does he think of HTS's leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani? Although al-Jolani has changed his image in recent years Alhamdo does not believe he will be "the ultimate leader", adding that Syrians will no longer accept "any totalitarian kind of ruling regime".

Image source, Reuters

"Streets are deserted [and] shops are closed" on the streets of Damascus this morning, with Syrians apprehensive about the future, says a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Suhair Zakkout, who is in the Syrian capital, tells BBC World Service Radio's Newsday programme that civilians have "a million unanswered questions" about what happens next.

"People are living in fear," she says, "Will they be able to get back to their normal lives? Will their kids go to school tomorrow?"

"The changes have been happening so fast and rapidly".

Deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have been granted asylum in Russia, according to Russia state media reports.

There had been speculation about his whereabouts after rebel forces seized control of the capital Damascus.

The news agency Reuters cited two unnamed senior Syrian army officers as saying that Assad had boarded a Syrian Air plane at Damascus airport early on Sunday.

Russia has been a staunch ally of Assad's, and had previously intervened in the civil war in Syria in an effort to keep him in power - the BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg says the fall of Assad's regime is a blow to Russia's prestige.

Image source, Getty Images

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session later today to discuss the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

The meeting was requested by Russia, which is reported to have offered asylum to Assad and his family in Moscow.

In our last post, we reported on Abu Mohammed al-Jolani - leader of Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - being cheered as he spoke in the landmark Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.

Watching on was BBC Arabic special correspondent Feras Kilani, who said it "was a moment no one could have imagined just 24 hours earlier".

We can now bring you footage from Feras, as Jolani arrived in the mosque.

Hours after taking control of the Syrian capital, Damascus, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani was met with cheers from his supporters as he spoke in the landmark Umayyad Mosque.

In recent years the leader of Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who spearheaded the offensive against Bashar al-Assad's regime, has sought to transform his public image - from Syrian jihadist leader to rebel politician.

Once clad in traditional jihadist militant attire, he has adopted a more Western-style wardrobe in the past years. Jolani even started to use his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, In official communications issued since Thursday.

Our colleagues at BBC Monitoring have taken a look at Jolani and how he reinvented himself.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

• President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria has fallen, after a sudden offensive by Islamist rebel groups
• It was led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), alongside allied rebel factions, and brought an end to the Assad family's 50-year rule
• The offensive started just 12 days ago, with two major cities falling to the rebels over the weekend
• Homs, Syria's third largest city, was taken on Saturday after just one day of fighting
• On Sunday, HTS-led rebels announced they had entered the capital Damascus, releasing prisoners from the notorious military prison Saydnaya
• Former president Bashar al-Assad - who had long vowed to "crush" the rebels with the help of his allies, has fled to Russia, with state media there reporting he has been granted asylum

Explained: What just happened in Syria?

The Syrian civil defence group known as the White Helmets says it is investigating reports from survivors of the country's notorious Saydnaya prison that people are being detained in hidden underground cells.

Saydnaya is one of the prisons liberated as rebels took control of the country.

Writing on X, the White Helmets says it has deployed five "specialised emergency teams" to the prison, who are being helped by a guide familiar with the prison's layout.

Authorities in Damascus province, meanwhile, have issued an appeal to those who used to work at the prison to supply the rebel forces with codes to underground electronic doors.

The Damascus Countryside Governorate says efforts are continuing to try and reach "more than 100,000 detainees who can be seen on CCTV monitors".

• Read more about the prison here

Image source, Getty Images

The fall of the Assad regime is an opportunity for Syrian politicians of all stripes to "sit at the same table" to shape the next phase of the country's history, says Dima Moussa, vice president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

Moussa, who has been living in Turkey since 2013, told BBC's Newsday: "Transition requires coming together of all Syrian people, including those who are carrying arms.

"We have turned an amazingly dark age in the history of Syria."

Asked how to ensure a peaceful transition when opposition parties have different political stands, she said: "Of course we are all going to fight for what we want. We just want to do it in a peaceful manner."

Moussa is known for her liberal feminist views, while rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani who spearheaded Assad's ousting has a jihadist past.

"We want to do things differently... And I think today there is the desire [and] ability for Syrians to sit together," Moussa said, adding that she plans to return to Syria.

Several countries have vested interests in the future of Syria, including President Assad’s allies, and say they are keen to play a role in supporting a new government.

Russia, which has reportedly given Assad and his family asylum in Moscow, has said that its military bases in the country are on “high alert” but an unnamed Kremlin source has told Russian media that their safety has been guaranteed by the rebels. Moscow is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in order to discuss what happens next.

Iran, which also backed the Assad regime, has said that it expects “friendly” relations with Syria to continue. In a statement, its foreign ministry calls for “the initiation of national dialogue involving all segments of Syrian society to establish an inclusive governance structure that represents all Syrians”.

Turkey, which backs some of the rebel groups, says it will “intensify” efforts to help secure Syria’s peaceful and stable future in the coming days. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says that this includes looking for a way to repatriate millions of Syrians who have fled during the civil war – many of whom have ended up in Turkey.

US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has said Syria is facing a moment of “historic opportunity” but America is also worried about a possible power vacuum and has already struck what it says are areas in eastern Syria where the Islamic State terror group is restoring itself.

Other countries, including China, say they are watching developments in Syria closely.

It's been just over a day since rebel forces declared that former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's government had fallen after they took the capital, Damascus.

There are now attempts to establish a new order in the country, which we're continuing to cover live.

Assad, who fled as the rebels closed in, is now thought to be in Russia, having been offered asylum.

Meanwhile, the international community is trying to assess the situation and how to interact with the various rebel factions.

Stay with us for the latest updates.