Damascus, Syria CNN —At Umayyad Square in central Damascus, tens of thousands of people had the party of a lifetime on Friday. On Sunday, after 13 years of civil war that fractured the country, the regime came crashing down. Rebel fighters declared Damacus “liberated” in a video statement on state television, sending Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fleeing to Russia. The congregational prayers – seen as the pinnacle of the Islamic week – were the first since the fall of the Assadregime. People dance and sing at the Umayyad Square, celebrating their newly found freedoms.

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Persons: Syria CNN —, Bashar al, Assad, “, Esraa, ”, Young, Ivana Kottasova, Syrian Arab Republic –, ” Alsliman, Damacus “, Abu Mohammad al, Jolani, Mohamed Al, Bashir, fatigues, CNN Fatima Baghdadi, God, Rauda Alaita Organizations: Syria CNN, CNN Locations: Damascus, Syria, Syrian Arab Republic, ”, Russia