Syria to mark first anniversary of Assad's fall with public holiday

The Syrian Presidency has announced a public holiday for Sunday 7 and Monday 8 December, to mark Liberation Day, commemorating the first anniversary of the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

According to an announcement from the state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), public institutions will be closed except those that require continuous operation.

"Last year was a turning point in the lives of Syrians," said Reem al-Omari, a government administrative employee, adding that "[on] Liberation Day ... we feel we regain something of our dignity and our normal life".

Nidal Khayrallah, a schoolteacher from a suburb of Damascus, told The New Arab's Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that an entire generation has begun to understand "the meaning of freedom away from fear", while tradesman Muhammad Sabouni in Aleppo said the occasion "carries great value" after 14 difficult years of war that "did not go to waste".

In Idlib, bookshop owner Yazan al-Amar said Liberation Day holds "a different meaning" in his area, which before 2024 was the last bastion of opposition to Assad regime rule in Syria.

He said that the rebel's offensive against Assad, entitled Operation Deterring Aggression, "was the beginning of the end for the regime that oppressed Syrians for so many years".

President Ahmed al-Sharaa has called for nationwide celebrations, describing the date as "a defining moment in the country’s modern political history", a message that has been echoed by local authorities preparing symbolic events and public gatherings across several provinces.

Homs sectarian-tinged double murder sparks tension

While the end of Assad regime rule brought Syrians greater freedom, the country has continued to face challenges, including outbreaks of sectarian violence and tension.

The Ministry of Interior released new details about the killing of a Sunni Bedouin married couple in the town of Zaidal in the Homs countryside, a crime that triggered sectarian rioting when it initially appeared that Alawites committed the murder.

Armed Bedouin men rampaged through Alawite areas of Homs, setting fire to cars and damaging homes, while firing at passers-by, before security forces intervened and imposed a curfew.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said the main suspect, Mohammad al-Hamid, born in 1999, was arrested after expanded investigations and "confessed fully".

Al-Baba described him as a heavy user of crystal meth and a close relative of one of the victims, adding that he entered the home intending to rob them.

After being discovered, "he killed them in cold blood, then wrote sectarian phrases in the victim’s blood in an attempt to mislead justice, and set fire to the place to destroy the evidence", al-Baba said.

He added that the ministry would pursue those involved in "disturbing security and inciting sectarian tensions", urging media and the public to verify information before publication. 

Security forces later detained more than 120 people linked to the rioting, though al-Baba said the murder investigation had concluded with "only one perpetrator", with additional roles to be determined by ongoing inquiries.

The unrest caused damage to 19 homes, 29 cars and 21 shops before security and army units intervened to contain the situation.