Syria's Assad attends Eid al-Fitr
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Syrian President Bashar Assad has attended Eid al-Fitr prayers at a mosque in Tartous, a town in the coastal region that has remained loyal to the president through seven years of civil war.
The coastal region is home to Syria's minority Alawite population that has been the core of Assad's support. Assad, an Alawite, traces his family's origins to Qardaha, a town in the mountains nearby.
Tens of thousands of men from the coastal region are believed to have been killed fighting for the president since 2011, according to Syrian monitoring groups. The government in Damascus does not publish official figures.
In May, with Assad claiming victory against the last insurgents near the capital, the government discharged soldiers conscripted before the 2011 uprising against Assad's rule, letting them return to civilian life for the first time in eight years.
