Tens of thousands took to the streets across Syria on Monday to celebrate a year since the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, with President Ahmed al-Sharaa urging people to unite to rebuild the country.

Sharaa's Islamist-led alliance launched a lightning offensive in late November last year and took Damascus on December 8 after nearly 14 years of war, ending more than five decades of Assad family rule.

The war, which erupted in 2011 with the then-government's brutal crackdown on democracy protests, killed more than half a million people and displaced millions from their homes.

Jubilant crowds thronged the streets of the capital, many people waving Syrian flags, AFP correspondents said, after mosques in the Old City began the day broadcasting celebratory prayers at dawn.

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