Residents in Damascus have instructed of an anxious watch for information on what was occurring in Syria’s capital metropolis in a single day.
After a number of hours of stories 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, stated.
“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 via an excessive amount of.”
She stated she had “combined emotions” because the offensive by insurgent teams started, however that she was now not afraid.
Up to now, she stated, she had been “terrified of sharing an opinion I used to be so terrified of even placing a like, placing a coronary heart on somebody from the opposition.”
One other Damascus resident, who requested to be nameless, instructed 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., individuals are celebrating in a means that’s so peaceable. They’re capturing fireworks. Sure we’re listening to some gunshots, nevertheless it’s largely fireworks,” the resident stated.
“What we’re feeling actually resembles what we felt throughout the revolution when it started in 2011. That is the continuation of a dream that had began that 12 months.”
He stated that Syrians really feel worry and fear in regards to the future, however “as we speak, all of the Syrian folks will solely rejoice.”
Yazan Al Amari runs a small telephone store in Deraa, a metropolis south of Damascus the place civilian militias affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have already taken management.
He instructed the BBC that he’s travelling with buddies to the Syrian capital as we speak to rejoice.
“After we awakened and noticed the information, at first we could not comprehend or totally grasp it in any respect. Individuals had been very terrified of rumours.
“However after we realised it was really true, we received in our vehicles, and now we’re on our technique to Damascus to rejoice.”
“Individuals felt like they had been in a dream,” he stated.
“You possibly can see folks crying. We had been very afraid till as we speak.”
Al Amari says that is the primary time in a few years that he has been capable of discuss freely.
“I was unable to go away my small city or transfer freely in any respect. However now, I can go wherever I need,” he stated.
A Syrian man in London instructed me of fears for his household residing on the coastal area of Syria.
“We’re Jap Orthodox Christians, I’m afraid my household shall be slaughtered,” the person, who requested to stay nameless, stated.
“Everyone is in a panic mode. They’re looking for a means overseas.”
His household are making preparations to go away Syria, however the borders with Lebanon and Jordan are closed.
“Luggage are packed, we’re simply ready to see if any of the airports would open a flight to any surrounding nation. Or if the land borders would permit any particular teams to go away Syria,” he stated.
“It’s a indisputable fact that individuals are celebrating out of worry,” he stated.
“They’re celebrating as a result of they’re afraid they’re going to be slaughtered if they do not fake to be excited. On one hand, we’re all glad the regime is gone, alternatively, we do not know the end result of the choice authorities. In any case, this insurgent group is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.”
The group which has taken management of huge elements of the nation, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, have stated that Christians are secure.
“We simply do not know the way true this assertion is,” he stated.
