Amna Nawaz:

But the man behind that bombing is still in charge. Today, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with his strongest ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, offering support for his war in Ukraine.

In rebel-held Northwest Syria, thousands of Syrians also marked this day, chanting slogans against the regime and waving the revolutionary flags. It all began in 2011, when pro-democracy protests swept Syria in the wake of the Arab Spring.

But Bashar al-Assad’s brutal crackdown triggered a civil war that has left a trail of destruction, a country in ruins, and forced millions of Syrians to flee their homes, many on boats to Europe and further afield. Tens of thousands of people disappeared, many of them presumed tortured and killed in government prisons.

The tragic twin earthquakes that struck Northern Syria on February 6 further tormented a people already ravaged by war, and have also opened diplomatic doors for Bashar al-Assad, after years of international isolation. Arab countries are slowly restoring ties with Damascus. But Syrians continue to struggle. Over 12 million people, more than half the population, are food-insecure.