I witnessed a man regain his freedom after eight years in prison. Seeing women, men, and children walk out of the regime’s prisons was unforgettable,' Syrian journalist tells Anadolu - Anadolu Ajansı

Al Jazeera reports from Aleppo on how the rebel offensive and regime instability led to the historical city's fall.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Syria's northern city of Aleppo Saturday as the country marks a year since a lightning Islamist-led offensive that eventually toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last December.

A graffiti reading 'Next, it’s your turn, doctor (Bashar Assad)' sprayed by schoolchildren in Daraa in March 2011 ignites a nationwide uprising against decades of Baathist rule - Anadolu Ajansı

President Ahmad al-Sharaa participated in the celebration at the Aleppo Citadel marking the first anniversary of its liberation from the former regime,

Assad's dictatorial regime one year ago, more than 1.2 million exiled Syrians have returned home. The journey back has often been extremely difficult, but it is driven by a determination to rebuild their lives in their homeland.

The country certainly still faces many challenges. But some things are now going right there — and those are worth our attention, too.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed on Saturday to marshal every possible effort to rebuild the country, declaring from the city of Aleppo that Syria stands at the threshold of a long and demanding recovery.

The man who toppled Syria's Baathist regime has succeeded in breaking the country's international isolation. Yet the former jihadist, who governs with a handful of loyal followers, has struggled to defuse the sectarian and ethnic tensions left by the civil war.

In a span of just 15 days, an estimated 327 people were killed in the city. — -- The now-viral photo of a small boy covered in blood and dust after surviving an airstrike in Aleppo seems to have awakened the world to Syria's five-year civil war.