Iraq has taken in more than a thousand Syrian soldiers who requested permission to cross the border, Iraqi media report. Meanwhile, the family of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has left the country and fled to Russia.

Hundreds of members of the main Syrian insurgent group that overthrew former President Bashar Assad from power marched through the streets of the capital in a show of force.

Syrians carry crosses and copies of Koran as they rally in Damascus' Umayyad Square in celebration of the ousting of former president Bashar al-Assad, nearly three weeks after he fled to Russia, in the presence of fighters from the new administration parading in the square.

Forces of the new Syrian government are parading through the streets of Damascus.