On Sunday, people across Syria will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the uprising that, in late 2024, put an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.On March 15, 2011, antigovernment protesters descended onto the streets of Deraa, Damascus and Aleppo.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listAfter Tunisia and Egypt, the Arab Spring had arrived in Syria.Many of the initial demonstrations erupted after news emerged of the arrest and torture of teenage boys from Deraa, in southwestern Syria. The boys were arrested for painting anti-Assad graffiti.As the protests grew to demand democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners, al-Assad and his forces began responding with brutal force and suppression. By July 2011, defectors from the Syrian army announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army. Other armed groups also joined the fray, as did many nations and regional rebel groups, and soon, the country fell into a vicious war in which hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced.Then, in December 2024, a lightning offensive by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group removed al-Assad, who fled to Russia. The leader of the since-disbanded HTS, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is now the country’s president and has led the effort to rebuild a battered state, including its security.Syrians told Al Jazeera on the uprising’s anniversary that they are proud to have deposed the Assad dynasty that ruled the country for m …
