As Syria marks 15 years since the uprising against Assad, security problems persist | The Syrian war

On Sunday, people across Syria will mark the 15th anniversary of the uprising that, in late 2024, ended the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

On March 15, 2011, anti-government protesters took to the streets of Deraa, Damascus and Aleppo.

After Tunisia and Egypt, the Arab Spring had reached Syria.

Many of the initial demonstrations broke out after news emerged of the arrest and torture of teenagers from Deraa, southwestern Syria. The boys were arrested for painting anti-Assad graffiti.

As protests grew to demand democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners, al-Assad and his forces began to respond with brutal force and repression. In July 2011, Syrian army deserters announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army. Other armed groups also joined the fray, as did many nations and regional rebel groups, and soon the country fell into a cruel war in which hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced.

Then, in December 2024, a lightning offensive by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group toppled al-Assad, who fled to Russia. The leader of the then-dissolved HTS, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is now the country’s president and has led efforts to rebuild a battered state, including its security.

Syrians told Al Jazeera on the anniversary of the uprising that they are proud to have deposed the Assad dynasty that ruled the country for more than 50 years.

Last year, the capital was filled with roses as Syrians celebrated the first anniversary of the revolution without al-Assad as leader. And this time, as the anniversary falls in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, authorities have planned a large iftar in Qatana, just south of Damascus, with the families of those killed, as well as a meeting of young revolutionaries and activists in Barzeh.

“God willing, we will celebrate,” Bassem Hlyhl, an employee at the Ministry of Information, told Al Jazeera.

‘international legitimacy’

When al-Sharaa came to power, doubts arose over whether he would be able to overcome some of the major challenges facing the country, including the severe international sanctions imposed on him.

But al-Sharaa quickly gained international legitimacy, establishing good relations with several countries in the region, as well as with the United States during Donald Trump’s presidency.

“Al-Sharaa has achieved a level of international legitimacy that no other Syrian president has achieved before him,” wrote Omer Ozkizilcik, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Syria Project, in a December 2025 report.

Still, obstacles remain. Many Syrians say they no longer have to worry about being arrested or tortured by Assad’s security forces, but the country’s security is still fragile.

“For me, it’s safer during the day,” Ahmad Khallak, a Syrian from Idlib, told Al Jazeera.

“There are still many weapons with unknown people or attackers.”

He mentioned that some areas are safer than others, but there are still security concerns, including the presence of ISIL (ISIS) fighters in some parts of the country. He also said petty crimes, such as theft, were still present.

The Syrian al-Sharaa government has worked to establish control over the state after some 14 years of war. That included asserting control over the coast, where fighting in March 2025 sparked mass violence, including by members of the Syrian security forces, and attempts to extend government control to Suwayda in the south, where violence spiked last summer.

Syrian security forces have recruited large numbers in a short space of time, but observers say they still need more recruits. This means that some parts of the country’s periphery do not enjoy the same security presence as, for example, Damascus.

The government also undertook negotiations to incorporate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian army. The SDF controlled much of northeastern Syria, but a government offensive in January recaptured large swathes of the area.

In November, the murder of a couple in Homs threatened to spark sectarian violence, but the government and tribal leaders intervened to calm tensions.

“(T)he Home Office has taken steps to strengthen its internal systems and assert greater accountability over the country’s myriad security actors,” wrote Julien Barnes-Dacey in a recent report for the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“In some areas, such as Homs, where local tensions remain high, professional responses by government forces to security incidents have prevented new cycles of escalation.

“And following the violence last March, in which more than 1,400 Alawites (a Shiite minority) were killed, community relations appear to be slowly improving on the ground, although minority groups still have deep concerns about their status in the new Sunni-dominated country and face constant threats to their security,” he wrote.