Syrian opposition fighters destroyed the grave of the late President Hafez al-Assad, father of ousted President Bashar, in the family's hometown.
Video clips verified by the BBC showed armed men chanting as they walked around the burning shrine in Qardaha, northwest of the coastal region of Latakia.
The rebels, led by the Islamic group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, swept across Syria in a lightning attack that toppled the Assad family's 54-year rule. Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, where he and his family obtained asylum.
Statues and posters of Hafez and his son were pulled down across the country amid cheers from Syrians celebrating the end of their rule.
In 2011, Bashar al-Assad brutally crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising, sparking a devastating civil war in which more than half a million people were killed and another 12 million forced to flee their homes.
Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria mercilessly from 1971 until his death in 2000, when power was handed over to his son.
He was born and raised in an Alawite family, a branch of Shiite Islam and a religious minority in Syria, whose main population center is in Latakia Governorate near the Mediterranean coast near the border with Turkey.
Many Alawites – who make up about 10% of the country's population – were loyal supporters of Assad during their long time in power.
Some of them now fear they may be targeted by the victorious rebels.
On Monday, an armed opposition delegation including members of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and another Sunni group, the Free Syrian Army, met with Qardaha sheikhs and received their support, according to Reuters news agency.
The opposition delegation signed a document that Reuters reported affirmed the religious and cultural diversity in Syria.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and its allied opposition factions took control of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday after years of civil war.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani, who has now begun using his real name, Ahmed al-Shara, is a former jihadist who cut ties with al-Qaeda in 2016. He has recently pledged tolerance toward various religious groups and communities.
The UN envoy to Syria said opposition fighters must turn their “good messages” into practice on the ground.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State said that Washington would recognize and fully support the future Syrian government as long as it emerges from an inclusive and credible process that respects minorities.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham appointed a transitional government headed by Mohammed al-Bashir, the former head of the rebel administration in the northwest, until March 2025.
Al-Bashir He chaired a meeting in Damascus on Tuesday It was attended by members of his new government and members of Assad's previous government to discuss the transfer of ministerial portfolios and institutions.
