The image is particularly symbolic: A statue of former President Hafez al-Assad, the father of Syria's current ruler Bashar, was toppled in Hama after Islamist-led rebels overran the country's fourth-largest city, video authenticated by AFP showed.
A machine's long mechanical arm tipped the towering statue over to cheers and cries of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) and "Thank God" from the crowd, along with a deafening sound of celebratory gunfire, the night-time footage published Thursday night on social media showed.
