From the return of public Christmas celebrations in villages across Idlib to the quiet, heavily guarded streets of Damascus, Syria is celebrating its second Christmas since the fall of Assad, with new freedoms taking shape alongside the lasting scars of war.
Christmas lights illuminate Damascus’ Old City and there is a visible security presence while low-key celebrations take place among the city’s Christian community.
Syria’s Christian community has shrunk from 1 million people when the war began in 2011 to around 300,000 people, with many believed to have fled the country.