Residents of Damascus spoke of an anxious anticipate information on what occurred throughout the night time within the Syrian capital.
After a number of hours of experiences of rebels closing in, the navy declared Damascus “free” from longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad within the early hours of Sunday.
Unverified movies circulating on social media present individuals cheering within the streets and welcoming insurgent fighters, in addition to inmates free of the infamous Saydnaya jail.
“No one slept in Syria final night time … no Syrians overseas slept,” stated Rania Kataf, who runs the Humans of Damascus Facebook web page.
“The entire group had their telephones of their palms ready for the ultimate information.
“How do I really feel? Overwhelmed… We all really feel like we have been underwater, actually, for 13 years, and we have all caught our breath.
“And I do know there are such a lot of individuals a lot older than me who’ve been via an excessive amount of.”
He stated he has had “combined emotions” because the insurgent teams’ offensive started, however that he’s not afraid.
In the previous, she stated, she had been “afraid to share an opinion, I used to be so afraid to even like, put my coronary heart into somebody within the opposition.”
Another Damascus resident, who requested to stay nameless, instructed the BBC: “For the primary time there’s a actual feeling of freedom.”
He described celebrations within the streets and in Umayyad Square, a landmark within the coronary heart of Damascus and residential to main authorities businesses, together with the Ministry of Defense and the Syrian armed forces.
“In the central Umayyad sq., individuals are celebrating peacefully. They are taking pictures fireworks. Yes, we hear gunshots, however they’re principally fireworks,” the resident stated.
“What we really feel actually resembles what we felt throughout the revolution that started in 2011. This is the continuation of a dream that started that 12 months.”
He stated Syrians are afraid and fearful in regards to the future, however “right this moment all of the Syrian individuals will do nothing however 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 he will probably be touring with mates to the Syrian capital right this moment to have fun.
“When we wakened and noticed the information, at first we could not absolutely perceive or grasp it. People have been very afraid of the rumors.
“But after we realized it was true, we acquired within the automobile and now we’re on our strategy to Damascus to have fun.”
“People felt like they have been in a dream,” he stated.
“You may see individuals crying. Until right this moment we have been very afraid.”
Al Amari says that is the primary time in a few years that he has been capable of communicate freely.
“Before I could not go away my little city or transfer round freely. But now I can go wherever I need,” he stated.
The BBC spoke to a Syrian man in London with shut family members dwelling in Syria’s coastal area, who requested to stay nameless.
“We are Eastern Orthodox Christians, I concern my household will probably be massacred,” he stated.
“Everyone is panicking. They’re looking for a means in another country.”
His household is getting ready to depart Syria, however the borders with Lebanon and Jordan are closed.
“The luggage are packed, we’re simply ready to see if any of the airports will open a flight to some surrounding nation. Or if the land borders will permit some particular group to depart Syria,” he stated.
“It’s a reality that folks have fun out of concern,” he stated.
“They have fun as a result of they’re afraid of being massacred if they do not faux to be enthusiastic. On the one hand we’re all completely happy that the regime is gone, on the opposite we do not know the result of the choice authorities. After all this insurgent group is an offshoot of Al-Qaeda.”
The group that has taken management of a lot of the nation, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has stated Christians are secure.
“We merely do not understand how true that assertion is,” he stated.
