Rebel fighters claimed they captured the Syrian capital of Damascus early Sunday as government forces loyal to the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, were routed in a mater of days.

The rebels’ claim would open a new chapter in the 13-year-long civil war that has ravaged the ancient land.

“We declare the city of Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad,” Hassan Abdul-Ghani, senior commander of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, known as HTS, said in a post on WhatsApp. “To the…