Syria is marking a year since the collapse of the Assad regime. A dynastic rule that survived five decades, including uprisings and civil wars, fell in a matter of days. A lightning assault by fighters late last year resulted in the takeover of the capital Damascus. It surprised everyone, including the fighters themselves. The collapse brought relief to many Syrians - the first they had felt in many years, since Bashar’s father, Hafez al-Assad, seized power in 1971. In 2011, antigovernment protests swept across the country during the Arab Spring. Syrian forces launched a brutal crackdown and the uprising escalated into a full-scale civil war. For more than a decade, the Assad regime committed atrocities, erasing entire neighbourhoods with barrel bombs and deploying chemical weapons against civilians. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Around 100,000 others went missing Many of Assad's opponents were locked up in prisons like Sednaya. When inmates were freed, many emerged dazed, unaware Syria had entered uncharted territory. At the forefront is Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda-linked commander, now Syria's President. Once on the US most wanted list with a 10-million-dollar bounty, he's now visiting leaders across the world including the White House. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on X: https://x.com/ajenglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com Check out our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/aljazeeraenglish Download AJE Mobile App: https://aje.io/AJEMobile #Syria #SyriaWar #SyriaCivilWar #BasharAlAssad #SyriaAfterAssad #SyriaConflict #RebuildingSyria #HTS #HayatTahrirAlSham #AhmedAlSharaa #AlJazeeraEnglish