After decades of brutal rule, Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been toppled. Here’s what we know

Silviu Bucătaru

CNN  —  Long-suffering Syrians have been rejoicing in the streets after one of the world’s most brutal dictatorships suddenly crumbled in a few short weeks. For half a century, the Assad family ruled over Syria with an iron fist, with long-documented reports of mass incarceration torture, extra-judicial killings and atrocities against their own people. A civil war that started during the 2011 Arab Spring ravaged the country and turned it into a breeding ground for extremist group ISIS, while