Baby photos, wedding pics & hot pants…inside monster Assad’s creepily normal family album abandoned at palace
WHILE sifting through the deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad's lavish palace rebels came across the bloody tyrant's family photo albums.
Thumbing through the private collections they found baby snaps, wedding photos and pics of the tyrant looking awkward in his underpants.
It is all creepily normal for a family who oversaw the brutal deaths and torture of thousands of innocent civilians.
Pictured here in candid snaps wearing a white t-shirt and shell suit - Assad's smile hides the vicious monster beneath.
Assad ruled Syria with an iron fist for 24 years after the death of his father Hafez - a life anything but "normal".
The family tried to maintain a "middle class" persona.
But they kept their extraordinary wealth under wraps throughs various fraudulent accounts, shell companies and offshore tax havens.
Assad's personal wealth is estimated to have been in the BILLIONS - something on show as rebel groups have spent the last few days pillaging his palaces.
But amid the golden chests, mementos from world leaders and the supercars - these photos albums offer an invaluable insight into vile Assad.
The story of a monster - told in family photos:
Assad was a London-trained eye doctor but his older brother Bassel al-Assad dying in a car crash in 1994 soon thrusted him into the political spotlight.
In the UK he met his now-wife Asma Akhras - a former investment banker at JP Morgan.
They got married in 2000, the same year when Assad suddenly inherited Syria's dictatorship following the death of his father.
The Syrian parliament amended the constitution to lower the presidential age requirement from 40 to 34, enabling the younger Assad to assume power.
Following his brother's death, Assad had undergone various military training and had his rank elevated to colonel to prepare him for the chance of future rule.
As the first lady of Syria, Asma - who doesn't wear a burqa or a veil to cover her face - left a lasting impression of an independent woman on the world stage.
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She even told a friend that she was the “real dictator” in the family, according to The Telegraph.
The couple share three children together who were born in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
Pictured below, Assad is laying down with one of his children that looked to be newborn on his chest.
The family's liberal fame was short-lived and quickly collapsed as Assad began a brutal saga of torture and bloodshed against the Syrians.
Assad started to wipe out the opposition groups in the city of Homs.
This sparked the Syrian Civil War which killed 500,000 people while six million were left as refugees.
Before the bloodshed, Assad appeared to live a happy life, pictured smiling and laughing with friends and family.
The tyrant also looks to have enjoyed partying with friends in his youth.
Many of the pictures discovered by rebels show Assad half-naked either in boxers or sporting a humiliating pair of budgie smugglers.
It's hard to imagine, from the pictures, that it is this dictator that has left behind a shattered nation.
Here he is peddling a tricycle in one bizarre picture
He decimated Syria’s infrastructure, fractured its society, and plunged millions into despair.
And he appears to have learned lessons form his also tyrannical father, pictured here posing in his pants.
Syrian rebels - led by former al-Qaida splinter group the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham - managed to end Assad's rule in 10 days.
Weakened by a lack of support from his pal Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, the fighters stormed towards Damascus - with their lightning offensive show below in our map.
And with no other choice - Assad was forced to flee, leaving behind all his family mementos to assure him and his family escaped with their lives.
They piled onto a private jet, switched the transponder off, and headed to Moscow.
He is believed to be potentially hiding in a luxury apartment block, pictured below, owned by the family as he is sheltered by Putin.
Syria became synonymous with human suffering, and Assad’s name will forever be tied to some of the worst war crimes of the modern era.
The man once seen as a modernising reformer will be remembered instead as a symbol of unchecked brutality.
His legacy is wholly written in the blood of his own people.
The Assad regime ruled Syria for more than 50 years under Assad and his father Hafez - see the family tree below.
Monster's fall: End of 50 years of tyranny
Assad’s rule over Syria ended in dramatic fashion after rebel forces stormed Damascus in a surprise offensive, forcing the dictator to flee to Russia.
This marked the conclusion of a regime notorious for its brutality, including chemical attacks, mass detentions, and the decimation of Syrian cities.
His life took a dramatic turn in 1994 when his elder brother, Bassel, the family’s chosen heir, died in a car accident.
Bashar was abruptly recalled to Syria and groomed for power.
Initially, hope stirred for reform as Bashar promised modernisation, anti-corruption measures, and political openness.
But the so-called “Damascus Spring” was short-lived.
Within a year, Assad cracked down on dissenters, signalling the beginning of his authoritarian rule.
The Assad regime quickly devolved into a kleptocracy, with Assad and his extended family siphoning wealth while suppressing opposition.
The Syrian Civil War became a geopolitical quagmire.
Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, portrayed himself as a bulwark against terrorism while cynically releasing jihadist prisoners to bolster extremist factions.
This fuelled the rise of groups like ISIS, reshaping global terror.
The end of Assad’s reign came abruptly in December 2024, as rebel forces launched a lightning offensive, exploiting weakened Syrian defences.
Rebels captured Damascus in a lightning campaign, declaring the capital “free” and marking the end of years of brutal authoritarian rule.
With Russia mired in Ukraine and Iran preoccupied with regional conflicts, Assad’s regime was left vulnerable.
Rebels stormed Aleppo, marking a symbolic victory, and Assad fled Damascus.
Assad left aboard a military plane amid rumours of its crash before resurfacing in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin granted him asylum.
It comes as an apparent Russian conspiracy to distribute false news about an al-Assad 'aircraft accident' has been exposed.
The Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security claimed on X that Russia "hid their trail" in assisting al-Assad's escape by circulating fake claims that he died in a crash.
Meanwhile, opposition forces took control of key cities, toppled Assad’s statues, and announced plans for a transitional government.
The fall of Assad deals a blow to allies Russia and Iran, with both withdrawing assets from Syria.
Assad's Presidential Palace was ransacked, looters taking his and UK-born wife Asma’s personal possessions.
Rebel fighters sieved through the personal souvenirs of the tyrant in the Palace known as Qasr al-Shaab - or the "People's Palace".
Here they found a bizarre array of belongings that the overthrown leader and his wife left behind before fleeing to Russia.
Ordinary Syrians continued to celebrate the end of the rule of Assad, whose family’s 53-year dynasty was brought down in a 12-day offensive.
The armed wing of rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which brought down Assad, has said it would form a transitional government soon.
Western powers, however, fear a power vacuum that could lead to the resurgence of ISIS.
And with Bashar hiding in Russia - much of the rebel fury has been directed to the symbols of his rule.
Rebels even torched the tomb of his father Hafez in the family's hometown.
After seizing Damascus in a swift and decisive offensive, rebel forces declared victory and announced that the city was "free of Assad."
In the capital, thousands poured into the streets, waving rebel flags and lighting flares.
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Statues of Assad and his late father, Hafez, have been toppled in symbolic acts of defiance.
And now everyday Syrians are both celebrating and grappling with the task of rebuilding their broken nation.