‘Utterly Surreal!’ CNN’s Clarissa Ward Describes Stunning Scene in Damascus After ‘Mind-Blowing’ Fall Of Syria’s Assad
CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward described the “utterly surreal” scenes in Syria’s capital of Damascus on Monday, following the stunning collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the wake of a large-scale rebel offensive.
In a historic turn of events, Assad was overthrown as armed opposition forces took control of the city over the weekend and 13 years of civil war culminated in a seismic shift of power.
Speaking with CNN host Wolf Blitzer on the ground on Monday, Ward described the eerily calm streets and cautious hope of residents.
“For those of us who have been covering this story for more than 14 years, it never seemed possible that it would end like this,” Ward said. “There’s definitely a sense when you talk to people that they’re delighted, but they’re cautious and they’re concerned. What comes next? Will there be chaos? Will there be lawlessness? Will we see more looting like we saw today?”
Ward explained how the CNN team entered Syria to find the border entirely unguarded, a stark contrast to previous years.
“It’s astonishing to see it’s absolutely empty at the border points. Before, there would have been soldiers, there would have been border guards. Now there is absolutely nobody from the Syrian regime. Just a few friendly people waving us through,” she reported.
By contrast, Ward recalled her last exit from Syria in 2011: “The last time I came down this road was back in 2011 as I was leaving Syria. I had been undercover in Damascus posing as a tourist. And I never imagined this moment would come when we would be driving through this border with no one from the regime to stop us.”
“This is a momentous, mind-blowing, frankly, historic moment,” she added.
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the militant leader of the primary group leading the opposition, reinforced their long-standing objective in an exclusive CNN interview days before the capital’s fall.
“The goal of the revolution remains the overthrow of this regime. It is our right to use all available means to achieve that goal,” he declared. “The seeds of the regime’s defeat have always been within it.”
Watch above on CNN.
