Middle East & Africa | Postcard from Syria

Inside Bashar al-Assad’s dungeons

With the dictator gone, Syrians are desperately searching for loved ones lost in his prisons

Teams investigate at Sednaya Military Prison after overthrow of 61-year Baath Party rule
Photograph: Getty Images
|SAIDNAYA

AS NEWS OF the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the dictator’s flight spread over the weekend, many Syrians rushed to the public squares to celebrate. In Damascus, women draped in the green-and-black flag of the Syrian opposition chanted for Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who had masterminded the rebels’ offensive that brought down Mr Assad in less than two weeks. Fighters fired their weapons into the sky in celebration.

Explore more

Discover more

Nakuru human rights activists march in the streets while chanting slogans to demonstrate against rising cases of violence against women

Kenyan women are fed up with rampant sexual violence

A spate of horrific murders has fuelled a campaign to end femicide

Mohamed Abdelrhman of Sudan

Sudan’s football team wants to reach the World Cup

International support and canny management have helped the squad defy civil war


Demonstrators protest against Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu outside the court in Tel Aviv Tuesday Dec. 10, 2024. Neta

Binyamin Netanyahu is in court again in Israel

As he fights charges of corruption, his country’s democracy may suffer


What do Syria’s other rebels want now?

HTS could not have taken Damascus without their help. We sit down with a Syrian rebel commander

The fall of Bashar al-Assad is a blow to Iran

Will the weakened regime reform, or race for the bomb?

Protests have shut down Mozambique

The aftermath of a rigged election is threatening a social revolt