Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa's Islamist group is stamping its authority on Syria's state with the same lightning speed that it seized the country, deploying police, installing an interim government and meeting foreign envoys - raising concerns over how inclusive Damascus' new rulers intend to be.

Images show the fighters standing next to the burning gravesite of Hafez al-Assad in the former president's hometown.

Syria's brutal civil war rekindled suddenly after 13 years, with rebels staging a shock offensive that forced long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia.