After the fall of Bashar al-Assad Regime on December 8, 2024; the rebels, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant outfit and its affiliate Jaish al-Izza (the Army of Pride), took control of Syria. They have appointed Mohammed al-Bashir as the Interim Prime Minister of the Syrian Government until March 2025. al-Bashir is a little-known figure across most of Syria who was trained as an electrical engineer before receiving a degree in Sharia and Law. The ongoing political transition has marked the end of the 13-year-long Civil War in the West Asian nation.

Although al-Assad left Damascus for Moscow on December 8, 2024, political analysts are of the opinion that his downfall started in 2011 when a 14-year-old boy spray-painted a wall with words that would have grave implications. Many believe that the teenager, Mouawiya Syasneh, triggered the civil war. Mouaiya, along with his family, used to live in the Daraa region of southern Syria. His family was also against the authoritarian regime of al-Assad. As Mouaiya was fond of graffiti, he painted graffiti on a wall in Daraa. As soon as the image of the graffiti went viral, Anti-Government Protests rocked Syria. Later, the peaceful uprising against the President turned into a full-scale civil war.

Mouaiya wrote: ‘Ejak el door, ya doctor’ (It’s your turn, Doctor). As this graffiti was directed at President al-Assad who has a medical background, it became the catalyst to a national uprising, triggering the most devastating civil war of the 21st Century. With people taking to the streets and raising their voices against the al-Assad Regime, the Syrian Government started using force to suppress the protesters.

Many believe that Mouawiya painted the graffiti out of frustration with the Syrian Police. Immediately after noticing the graffiti, Shu’bat al-Mukhabarat al-Askariyya (the Military Intelligence Directorate or MID) detained Mouawiya and some of his friends for 45 days. They were reportedly tortured in jail and also administered electric shocks! When his parents, neighbours and other people took to the streets to stage protests, the Police fired tear gas shells and bullets at them. Finally, Mukhabarat released Mouawiya and his friends.

Watch: Thirteen years ago…

Despite their release, images of torture in jail went viral and people started staging protests across Syria. Mouawiya’s rebellious act against the authoritarian regime intensified the protests. On March 15, 2011, the Syrians observed a nationwide Day of Rage, demanding the end of the al-Assad Regime. Analysts described the subsequent crackdown by the Police as brutal. The Security Forces not only opened fire on peaceful protesters, but also detained, as well as tortured, minorities.

Soldiers, who resigned from al-Assad’s Army, formed the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in July 2011. Although they waged a war against the al-Assad Regime, the rebel Armed Forces lost importance because of lack of cohesion and resources. Extremist groups, such as al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State (ISIS), filled this void. Since then, 13 long years have passed. Several places in Syria have been reduced to rubble. While more than 500,000 have been killed, over 13 million Syrians have been displaced during this period.

As two wars are taking place simultaneously in Eastern Europe and West Asia, Russia and Iran (the two main allies of al-Assad) have got involved in it. The Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Iran War created a golden opportunity for the rebels to topple the al-Assad Regime. It became difficult for the ousted President to resist the aggression of the rebels without receiving adequate support from Moscow and Tehran. After the fall of al-Assad, rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani offered prayers at the historic Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and declared victory. He also greeted people, announcing the end of five-decade rule of al-Assad’s Ba’ath Party.

Mouawiya is 27 now. However, nobody knows his whereabouts. It seems that he celebrates the fall of the al-Assad Regime with his near and dear ones.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das