Syrian rebel fighters have destroyed the tomb of Hafez al-Assad, the late father of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in a bold act of defiance against the Assad regime. The attack took place in the family’s ancestral hometown of Qardaha, located in the coastal Latakia region of north-western Syria.
Videos verified by the BBC show armed fighters from the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) chanting as they surrounded and set fire to the mausoleum. The destruction of the tomb is seen as a symbolic move aimed at erasing the legacy of the Assad family, which ruled Syria for over five decades.
The assault on the mausoleum is part of a broader offensive led by HTS, which has seen the group sweep across Syria, toppling what remains of the Assad regime. Bashar al-Assad, who has been ousted from power, has fled to Russia, where he and his family have been granted asylum.
The rebels’ actions have been met with widespread approval across Syria, with statues and posters of both Hafez and Bashar al-Assad being torn down in various locations. The symbolic destruction of these images has become a rallying point for Syrians celebrating the end of the Assad dynasty’s 54-year rule, which many have long considered tyrannical.
As the conflict in Syria reaches a critical juncture, the fall of the Assad family marks a significant shift in the country’s ongoing civil war, with many Syrians hopeful for a new political era free from the authoritarian control of the Assad regime.
