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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on Sunday that president Bashar al-Assad had left the country, after losing swathes of territory to a lightning rebel offensive while Islamist-led rebels said that they were 鈥榚ntering Damascus鈥�.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that 鈥楢ssad left Syria via Damascus international airport before the army security forces left鈥� the facility. AFP was unable to immediately confirm the report.

Gunfire rang out in the Syrian capital Sunday, residents told AFP, as Islamist-led rebels said they were 鈥榚ntering Damascus鈥� in a lightning offensive against government forces.

As a war monitor reported the army and security forces abandoned the capital鈥檚 international airport, a source close to Hezbollah told AFP fighters from the key Assad ally had left their positions around Damascus.

The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group said its forces were moving into the capital, shortly before they announced an 鈥榚nd of the era of tyranny in the prison of Sednaya鈥� as they broke into the jail which has become a by-word for darkest abuses of the Syrian regime.

The major developments in Damascus come only hours after HTS said they had captured the strategic city of Homs, on the way to the capital.

The defence ministry earlier denied that rebels had entered Homs, describing the situation there as 鈥榮afe and stable鈥�.

Homs lies about 140 kilometres north of the capital and was the third major city seized by the rebels who began their advance on November 27, reigniting a years-long war that had become largely dormant.

Sources from the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Sunday officers and soldiers of government forces withdrew from Damascus International Airport.

The monitor also confirmed 鈥榯he doors of the infamous 鈥淪ednaya鈥� prison... have been opened for thousands of detainees who were imprisoned by the security apparatus throughout the regime鈥檚 rule鈥�.

Earlier, Assad鈥檚 government denied the army had withdrawn from areas around Damascus.

鈥楢 very strong security and military cordon鈥� was being established by the armed forces around the capital 鈥榓nd no one... can penetrate this defensive line鈥�, interior minister Mohammed al-Rahmoun told state television.

Assad has for years been backed by Lebanese Hezbollah, whose forces 鈥榲acated their positions around Damascus鈥� according to a source close to the group.

Hezbollah 鈥榟as instructed its fighters in recent hours to withdraw from the Homs area, with some heading to Latakia in Syria and others to the Hermel area in Lebanon鈥�, the source also told AFP.

A source close to Hezbollah earlier said it had sent 2,000 fighters into Syria, to an area near the Lebanese border, 鈥榯o defend its positions鈥�.

The defence ministry earlier insisted, 鈥楾here is no truth to news claiming our armed forces... have withdrawn鈥� from positions near Damascus.

The Syrian army said that, in addition to the area around Damascus, it was reinforcing positions in the south, and operations against the rebels were beginning in the Hama, Homs and Daraa areas.

AFP has been unable to independently verify some of the information provided by the government and the rebels, as its journalists cannot reach the areas around Damascus where the rebels say they are present.

Residents of the capital described to AFP a state of panic as traffic jams clogged the city centre, people sought supplies and queued to withdraw money from ATMs.

鈥楾he situation was not like this when I left my house this morning... suddenly everyone was scared,鈥� said one woman, Rania.

A few kilometres away, the mood was starkly different. In a Damascus suburb, witnesses said protesters toppled a statue of Assad's father, the late leader Hafez al-Assad.

AFPTV images from Hama, Syria's fourth-largest city, showed abandoned tanks and other armoured vehicles, one of them on fire.

Hama resident Kharfan Mansour said he was 鈥榟appy with the liberation of Hama and the liberation of Syria from the Assad regime鈥�.聽

The president鈥檚 office denied reports Assad had left Damascus, saying he was working 鈥榝rom the capital鈥�.

The Observatory said government forces had ceded more key ground, losing control of all southern Daraa province, the cradle of the 2011 uprising.

The army said it was 鈥榬edeploying and repositioning鈥� in Daraa and another southern province, Sweida.

The Observatory also said troops were also evacuating posts in Quneitra, near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

Jordan has urged its citizens to leave neighbouring Syria 鈥榓s soon as possible鈥�, as have the United States and Assad ally Russia, which both keep troops in Syria.

An AFP correspondent in Daraa saw local fighters guarding public property and civil institutions.

In Sweida, a local fighter told AFP that after government forces withdrew 鈥榝rom their positions and headquarters, we are now securing and protecting vital facilities.鈥�

An Iraqi security source told AFP that Baghdad has allowed in hundreds of Syrian soldiers, who 鈥榝led the front lines鈥�, through the Al-Qaim border crossing. A second source put the figure at 2,000 troops, including officers.

HTS is rooted in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda. Proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Western governments, it has sought to soften its image in recent years, and told minority groups living in areas they now control not to worry.

Since the offensive began, at least 826 people, mostly combatants but also including 111 civilians, have been killed, the Observatory said.

The United Nations said the violence has displaced 370,000 people.

UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, called for 鈥榰rgent political talks鈥� to implement a 2015 Security Council resolution, which set out a roadmap for a negotiated settlement.

US president-elect Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that the United States should 鈥榥ot get involved鈥�, after outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Friday for a 鈥榩olitical solution to the conflict鈥�, in a call with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

After Fidan and his Iranian and Russian counterparts discussed Syria in Qatar on Saturday, Iran鈥檚 top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said they agreed on the initiation of 鈥榩olitical dialogue between the Syrian government and legitimate opposition groups鈥�.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said it was 鈥榠nadmissible鈥� to allow a 鈥榯errorist group to take control鈥� of Syrian territory.

Moscow and Tehran have supported Assad's government and army during the war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government backs some armed groups in northern Syria, said Saturday that Syria 鈥榠s tired of war, blood and tears鈥�.