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Regional secretary with the National Education Union
The writing was on the wall: the fall of the Assad government in Syria
VIJAY PRASHAD explains the political realignments that lead to the sudden collapse of Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria
Syrians gather in celebration days after the fall of Bashar Assad's government at Umayyad Square in Damascus, December 12, 2024

AS THE rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Syria Liberation Committee, HTS) seized Damascus, Syria’s capital, on December 7 2024, the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad boarded a flight to Moscow, Russia.

It was the end of the rule of the Assad family that began when Hafez al-Assad (1930-2000) became president in 1971, and continued through his son Bashar from 2000 — a 53-year-long rule.

HTS was formed out of the remnants of the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra (Front for the Conquest of Syria) in 2017 and led by its emir (leader) Abu Jaber Shaykh and its military commander Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

The Jihadi blitzkrieg

Israel’s advantage

Syria’s future

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