Ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's shirtless images go viral online

Assad's regime toppled a few days ago when rebels entered the Syrian capital Damascus after taking control over several other cities.

According to reports, Assad fled to Russia when rebels started to advance towards Damascus. He has been granted asylum by Moscow.

The images were reportedly found by rebels from the palatial houses of the former President located in Damascus and Aleppo.

For many Syrians who had endured forced imprisonment, displacement and oppression under the Assads, the photos serve as both a spectacle and a chance to exhale, reported the Independent newspaper.

In one of the images, a woman could be seen sitting on the shoulder of the former President.

Saad Abedine, a journalist with Al Jazeera, shared the images on X and wrote: "Few more Assad pictures so you can have endless nightmares for days to come."

Assad took charge of the country in 2000.

His father Hafez ruled the country for three decades before him.

Syria has been plunged into civil war and uncertainty since 2011.

UN envoy calls for increased aid for Syria in Damascus visit

Increased humanitarian aid is needed in Syria amid “immense” changes that offer hope to a nation emerging from a 13-year-long war, the top UN envoy for the country said after his arrival in the capital, Damascus, on Sunday.

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, arrived there a week after President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebel forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTC).

Responding to questions from the press upon his arrival, Pedersen noted the “immense” change since the fall of the Assad regime.

“This change in itself creates great hopes, but we all know that many challenges still lie ahead. So we have to get it right from the beginning,” he said.

He considered it necessary to launch a political process that includes all Syrians and which “must obviously be led by the Syrians themselves.”