Syrians flood streets to celebrate end of Assad rule

Syrians chant slogans and wave the new Syrian flag as they gather for Friday prayers at the Umayyad mosque in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

Thousands of Syrians heed the call of the country's new rulers and hit the streets on Dec. 13 to celebrate the fall of the decades-old Baath regime following the Friday's prayers.

A large group converged at the landmark Umayyad Mosque in Damascus ahead of the prayers, AFP correspondents reported.

Men, women and children flocked to the mosque, an unusual sight in Damascus, with some raising the Syrian independence flag, used by the opposition since the 2011 uprising. Some chanted: "one, one, one, the Syrian people is one," the journalists said.

Syria's rebel chief called on people across the country to celebrate "the victory of the revolution" earlier in the day.

More than half a century of the Assad clan's rule came to a sudden end on Dec. 8, after a lightning offensive led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept across the country and took the capital.

Ousted president Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, capping nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

"I would like to congratulate the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution and I call on them to go to the streets to express their joy," Jolani said on Telegram.

During the early days of Syria's uprising in 2011, protesters would often gather after noon prayers on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer and rest.

Assad's overthrow has allowed Syrians to flood to prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones, hoping for a miracle, or at least closure.

"I turned the world upside down looking," Abu...