An anti-government fighter steps on the head of a statue of late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad that was brought down outside the Defence Ministry's military security headquarters in the Damascus district of Kafr Sousa on December 9, 2024. Syrians flocked to the main square of the capital city Damascus on December 9 to mark what many regard as a long-awaited new dawn after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad who's father and predecessor died in 2000. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)