The crowd gathered at 5 am on Monday, December 8, in front of the Umayyad Mosque in the heart of Damascus’s old city. The dawn prayer signaled the start of the celebrations for the first anniversary of Syria’s liberation from 54 years of the Assad family’s rule. Returning to the place where, a year earlier, he had proclaimed victory, Ahmad al-Sharaa donned the military fatigues he wore when he entered the Syrian capital at the head of a coalition of Islamist rebel forces. “From north to south, from east to west, God willing, we will rebuild a strong Syria with a structure worthy of its present and its future,” said the transitional Syrian president.

On this historic day for millions of Syrians, Damascus was filled with a festive atmosphere. Cars and vans packed with families and young people, waving the Syrian flag and the Islamic banner inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith, headed toward Umayyad Square. They came from across the country and from abroad for the occasion. The liberation anthem, “Hold your head high, you are a free Syrian!” echoed from loudspeakers in Damascus’s central square. Police officers – both women and men, recruits to the interior forces – kept a close watch on the exuberant crowd. Young men sang in praise of al-Sharaa. “He took us out of the shadows and lifted us to the heavens, like birds,” said Fadi al-Moubarak, a 29-year-old Syrian from Daraa in the south.

The armed forces that had launched the offensive – beginning November 27, 2024 in northwest Syria and taking Damascus 11 days later – were in the spotlight. The military parade began with air commando paratroopers circling above the crowd, bearing the colors of the Syrian flag or the royal eagle, emblem of the new authorities. President al-Sharaa, accompanied by several ministers, watched the troops depart from a platform set up at the entrance to the Mazzeh airport road.

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