TOPSHOT - People wave independence-era Syrian flags as they gather at Saadallah al-Jabiri Square after the Friday noon prayer in Aleppo on December 13, 2024, to celebrate the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad and the end of five decades of Baathist rule in the country. More than half a century of brutal rule by the Assad clan came to a sudden end on December 8, after a lightning rebel offensive swept across the country and took the capital. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP)