As the situation in Syria intensifies and reports on President Bashar al-Assad surface, a new video has emerged showing two individuals removing the portrait of the long-standing president and striking it down to the floor.
The collapse of Assad’s government came suddenly, with reports that opposition fighters had entered Damascus, the heart of Syria’s power. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a prominent opposition war monitor led by Rami Abdurrahman, reported that Assad had fled the country, taking a flight from Damascus early on Sunday.
However, official confirmation from the Syrian government is absent.
Celebrations erupted in the streets of Damascus as crowds of Syrians gathered in central squares, chanting anti-Assad slogans. The sound of car horns and celebratory gunfire echoed throughout the capital as people commemorated the final days of Assad’s brutal rule.
In a similar act of defiance, protesters have also toppled statues of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father and the former president of Syria.
A statue of Hafez al-Assad was brought down in Hama, with demonstrators pulling its bust from a central square while chanting slogans denouncing the Assad family.
Additionally, similar acts of rebellion have taken place in Aleppo, where statues of Hafez and his brother have been toppled. Across the country, posters and images of the Assad family—once present everywhere in government buildings and billboards—have been torn apart, burned, defaced, or shot at by rebels.
End to 14-Year-Old Rule
This dramatic fall marks the end of Bashar al-Assad’s nearly 14-year struggle to maintain power amid Syria’s brutal civil war, which began in 2011. His regime had faced intense opposition and a series of defeats that fragmented the country.
For Bashar al-Assad, this moment stands in stark contrast to the early days of his presidency in 2000. At that time, many viewed the young, Western-educated ophthalmologist as a potential reformer after the decades of authoritarian rule by his father, Hafez. At just 34 years old, Bashar was seen as a more modern and tech-savvy figure—often described as gentle and reserved, with a keen interest in computers and technology. His ascension to the presidency, following the death of his father, had initially sparked hopes of political change. However, over the years, Assad’s regime became increasingly repressive, and his leadership marked a descent into violence and tyranny.
Now, as the Assad dynasty appears to crumble, the people of Syria seem to have taken the final step in shaking off the years of oppression and war. The streets of Damascus ring with the sound of victory for those who have fought so long to see an end to his rule.
(Inputs from AP)
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