Assad collapsed over the weekend without a fight, Damascus slipped into a power vacuum that saw the pillaging of the deposed president’s ornate palace, some government buildings and the homes of high-ranking officials.

Tens of thousands of people held in Syria's notorious prisons have been freed in the 10 days since the insurgents began their lightning advance across the country that ended with the toppling of President Bashar Assad.

Syrian rebels appear to have entered the capital Damascus after facing scant resistance from regime forces, as President Bashar al-Assad’s decades-long grip on power appeared to wane by the minute.