Syria jubilantly marks a year since Assad's fall with parades - and leader makes new pledge

Syrians are celebrating the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al Assad with military parades - and a fresh promise to rebuild the country.

The former Syrian leader was toppled when rebels, commanded by Syria's new president, Ahmed al Sharaa, seized Damascus in a lightning offensive last December.

Mr Assad fled for Russia, bringing an abrupt end to his 24 years of rule.

Official celebrations are taking place on Monday across the country, and the central Umayyad Square in Damascus has been packed with jubilant crowds.

Mr Sharaa, a Former al Qaeda commander, has been marking the occasion with dawn prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital, according to the Syrian state news agency, SANA.

Dressed in military fatigues similar to those he wore during the victorious rebel campaign, Mr Sharaa promised to rebuild Syria.

"From north to south and from east to west, God willing, we will rebuild a strong Syria with a structure befitting its present and past," he said, according to SANA.

The country is struggling to heal a year after the Assad dynasty's repressive 50-year reign came to an end.

The fall of Mr Assad came after 14 years of civil war which analysts said had left an estimated half a million people dead, millions more displaced, and the country battered and divided.

In late November 2024, rebel groups launched an offensive on the city of Aleppo.

They were surprised when the Syrian army collapsed with little resistance, first in Aleppo, then the key cities of Hama and Homs, leaving the road to Damascus open.

Mr Assad was whisked away by Russian forces, and remains in exile in Moscow.

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Crippling Western sanctions have largely been lifted, and Mr Sharaa has promised to replace Mr Assad's brutal police state with an inclusive and just order.

But hundreds of people have been killed in bouts of sectarian violence, causing new displacements and increasing mistrust among minorities towards Mr Sharaa's government.

(c) Sky News 2025: Syria jubilantly marks a year since Assad's fall with parades - and leader makes new pledge