Syrian rebel fighters destroyed the tomb of former president Hafez al-Assad Monday in the family’s ancestral hometown of Qardaha, marking another symbolic defeat of the Assad dynasty days after President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia.
Video footage verified by the BBC showed armed men chanting around the burning mausoleum in northwestern Latakia region, as rebels continued dismantling symbols of the 54-year Assad rule. Across Syria, citizens have been pulling down statues and posters of both Hafez, who ruled from 1971 until his death in 2000, and his son Bashar.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group moved quickly to establish order in Qardaha, meeting with local elders who signed a document emphasizing Syria’s religious and cultural diversity, Reuters reported. The gesture aimed to reassure the region’s Alawite population, who comprise about 10% of Syrians and were traditional Assad supporters.
HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has pledged tolerance for different religious groups since breaking ties with al-Qaeda in 2016. The group has appointed Mohammed al-Bashir to lead a transitional government until March 2025, with Tuesday meetings already underway to transfer institutional control from former regime officials.
“We reopened without fear because the people we serve are now not intimidating at all,” said Joud Insani, a Damascus chocolate shop worker. “Before, everyone who came to buy from us was either there to represent a general or a minister loyal to the Assad regime. Now thank God, that is no longer the case.”
The dramatic changes follow Bashar al-Assad’s brutal suppression of peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011, which sparked a devastating civil war killing over half a million people and displacing 12 million others. The U.S. Secretary of State has promised to support a future Syrian government if it emerges from an inclusive process respecting minorities.
In Damascus’s Joubar neighborhood, residents are returning to assess war damage. “This is the first time we dared to come back,” said Muhammad al Qahef, surveying his destroyed home with his wife Monawwar. “I feel as if it’s me that has been broken into pieces.”
The UN envoy for Syria has called on rebels to match their “good messages” with practical implementation, as merchants in Damascus markets celebrate newfound “oxygen in the air” and ongoing festivities mark the regime’s end.
