As the sun set on Syria’s north-western city of Aleppo, a group of rebel fighters reached Al-Basel square.

Towering over the junction is a statue of president Bashar al-Assad’s brother, Bassel, a Syrian army general who was widely anticipated to take over the leadership of the country from his father, Hafez before he died in a car crash in 1994.

The monument was meant to symbolise the regime’s strength. But on Friday, fighters pulled down its adjoining Syrian flag as they captured at least five of the city’s neighbourhoods.

Videos poured on to social media, many released by the slick media channels of the jihadist groups leading the advance, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement.