A truck pulls the head of the toppled statue of late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad through the streets of the captured central-west city of Hama on December 6, 2024. In little over a week, the offensive by rebel forces has seen Syria's second city Aleppo and strategically located Hama fall from President Bashar al-Assad's control for the first time since the civil war began in 2011. (Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)