A police patrol in the old city of Damascus, Syria, in April. Under the new authorities, some of Syrian society’s most religious people have suddenly come to rule over some of its most socially liberal.

Members of the Syrian government’s security forces in the capital, Damascus, on Thursday.

Syrian antigovernment fighters pouring into the city of Hama on Friday.

Syrian rebels trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad heading toward the strategic city of Homs.