Syria: ‘No-one slept’ – how information of the autumn of Bashar al-Assad unfold
Residents in Damascus have informed of an anxious await information on what was taking place in Syria’s capital metropolis in a single day.
After a number of hours of experiences of rebels getting nearer and nearer, the forces declared Damascus “free” of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad within the early hours of Sunday.
Unverified movies circulating on social media present folks cheering within the streets and welcoming the insurgent fighters, in addition to inmates being free of the infamous Saydnaya jail.
“No-one slept in Syria final evening… no Syrian overseas slept,” Rania Kataf, who runs the People of Damascus Fb web page, mentioned.
“The entire group was holding their telephones ready for the ultimate information.
“How do I really feel? Overwhelmed.. All of us really feel like we have been below water, actually, for 13 years, and all of us simply took a breath.
“And I do know that there are such a lot of people who find themselves a lot older than me who’ve been by an excessive amount of.”
She mentioned she had “combined emotions” for the reason that offensive by insurgent teams started, however that she was now not afraid.
Prior to now, she mentioned, she had been “afraid of sharing an opinion I used to be so afraid of even placing a like, placing a coronary heart on somebody from the opposition.”
One other Damascus resident, who requested to be nameless, informed the BBC: “For the very first time, there’s a true feeling of freedom.”
He described celebrations within the streets and in Umayyad Sq., a landmark within the coronary heart of Damascus, and residential to key authorities businesses, together with the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian Armed Forces.
“Within the central Umayyad Sq., persons are celebrating in a method that’s so peaceable. They’re taking pictures fireworks. Sure we’re listening to some gunshots, but it surely’s largely fireworks,” the resident mentioned.
“What we’re feeling actually resembles what we felt in the course of the revolution when it started in 2011. That is the continuation of a dream that had began that yr.”
He mentioned that Syrians really feel concern and fear concerning the future, however “as we speak, all of the Syrian folks will solely have a good time.”
Extra reporting by Wietske Burema
