A must-see moment when fighters against Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime brought Syria to a spectacular end.
Syrians have achieved what anti-government protesters demanded 13 years ago when they first took to the streets to call for the “fall of the regime”.
President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on the 2011 anti-democracy uprising turned into a devastating multi-front war that killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions. His hold on power was quickly ended in the early hours of December 8 when opposition forces entered the capital, Damascus.
Below, we have compiled some historical insights from Syria as the country enters a new era after half a century of al-Assad family rule.
Enjoy Damascus
As news spread that opposition forces had entered Damascus, it became increasingly apparent that al-Assad's time in power was limited. Almost immediately, people filled the city's streets to celebrate, with many posing for photos with resistance fighters:
Meanwhile, others vandalized al-Assad's family monuments. In Latakia, people were filmed riding around a towering statue of former President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father who ruled from 1971 until his death in 2000, as he was dragged behind truck on the road:
Confirmation of al-Assad's ouster came via an announcement on state television, which said Damascus had been “liberated” after a lightning strike that lasted just 11 days:
As night fell for the first time since al-Assad was overthrown, thousands of cars blocked the roads to Damascus as displaced people from across the country rushed to the capital:
Those who survived al-Assad's prisons were freed
Videos also showed the dramatic moments when fighters broke detainees out of government-run prisons notorious for torture. Among the prisoners who were freed were women and children. One overjoyed detainee said he had planned to be executed an hour before his release:
The first international news report from inside Damascus
Within hours of al-Assad's fall, Al Jazeera journalist Zeina Khodr was in Damascus. She crossed the border from Lebanon when the news came that the Syrian president had fled. Watch her amazing coverage from inside the destroyed state television office and outside al-Assad's abandoned presidential palace:
Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar also made it to the capital, where his live report was almost drowned out by the explosions of marker guns, while an Israeli airstrike left buildings swaying in its wake:
Refugees rejoice
From Berlin to Bucharest, Syrians in cities around the world gathered spontaneously to celebrate the ousting of al-Assad on Sunday morning, a moment many said they had been waiting for for nearly 14 years. Six million Syrians were forced to flee their homeland during the war. In Istanbul, home to more than a million Syrian refugees, thousands cheered, danced and waved a flag in protest:
People have already started returning to Syria after years of being forced abroad. By Monday evening, a huge queue had formed at the Bab al-Hawa crossing in Syria on the Turkish border. Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid described the new hopes of Syrians who expect a better future after al-Assad:
Global response
The Syrian war has drawn in a number of regional and global powers, many of which have expressed their views on taking over the front. The United States has long supported Kurdish-led forces in northeastern Syria. US President Joe Biden called the fall of al-Assad an “act of justice”, saying that “Syria is at a time of opportunity but also of danger and uncertainty”:
