Residents in Damascus have instructed of an anxious look ahead to information on what was occurring in Syria’s capital metropolis in a single day.
After a number of hours of reviews 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 neighborhood 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 “blended emotions” for the reason that offensive by insurgent teams started, however that she was not afraid.
Prior to now, she mentioned, she had been “fearful of sharing an opinion I used to be so fearful 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 companies, together with the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian Armed Forces.
“Within the central Umayyad Sq., individuals are celebrating in a approach that’s so peaceable. They’re capturing fireworks. Sure we’re listening to some gunshots, nevertheless it’s largely fireworks,” the resident mentioned.
“What we’re feeling actually resembles what we felt through 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 worry and fear in regards to the future, however “right now, all of the Syrian folks will solely have fun.”
Yazan Al Amari runs a small cellphone 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 mates to the Syrian capital right now to have fun.
“Once we awakened and noticed the information, at first we could not comprehend or absolutely grasp it in any respect. Folks had been very fearful of rumours.
“However once we realised it was really true, we bought in our automobiles, and now we’re on our method to Damascus to have fun.”
“Folks felt like they had been in a dream,” he mentioned.
“You could possibly see folks crying. We had been very afraid till right now.”
Al Amari says that is the primary time in a few years that he has been in a position to speak freely.
“I was unable to go away my small city or transfer freely in any respect. However now, I can go wherever I would like,” he mentioned.
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 can be slaughtered,” the person, who requested to stay nameless, mentioned.
“All people is in a panic mode. They’re looking for a approach in a foreign country.”
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 mentioned.
“It’s a undeniable fact that individuals are celebrating out of worry,” he mentioned.
“They’re celebrating as a result of they’re afraid to be slaughtered if they do not faux 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 spite of everything this insurgent group is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.”
The group which has taken management of enormous components of the nation, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, have mentioned that Christians are protected.
“We simply do not know the way true this assertion is,” he mentioned.