In the end, there was no great battle for Damascus, no gruelling siege of the kind we have become accustomed to in Syria’s brutal 13-year civil war. It was just an army that melted away and a fleeing president that brought the more than 50-year-long Baathist dictatorship to an end.
As Syrians continue to gather to celebrate around Umayyad Square, a new dawn in the country has begun. Further challenges are to come, but for the time being, Syrians can breathe easier. I am a Damascus-based journalist who has been speaking to people on the ground in Syria’s freed capital city as they grapple with their new reality.
The deposed leader, Bashar al–Assad, didn’t even have time to burn the evidence of his despotic rule – he went with a handful of aides, leaving his presidential security detail to fend for themselves as rebels stormed the city. The mukhabarat (Assad’s secret service), the elite army units of the republican guard and the 4th armoured division, led by his brother Maher, were left to face the sweeping rebel advances.
The army turned back into a civilian force, abandoning their positions and fleeing, leaving helmets, uniforms and officers’ badges on the streets alongside decaying military equipment. The mood in Damascus was one of relief.
Photographer Waseem Sas witnessed the unravelling of events in the city centre and told me his happiness was overshadowed by sadness: “I am upset because my friends are not in the photos I am taking.” Hundreds of thousands have died in the Syrian war, with many others held in dungeons and jail cells. As the rebel offensive continued, thousands of prisoners were freed from the notorious Saydnaya complex.
Yet rebels are still struggling to get to the lower floors which are shut off behind reinforced electronic gates, where some prisoners are rumoured to be trapped, some without food and water.
On the streets, Syria’s cultural community has been out in force to celebrate the collapse of the House of Assad. Hadi Akil, a 23-year-old music producer and DJ, was ecstatic about the fall of the regime. He told me: “I feel immense pride in being part of a resilient people who have become a global symbol of resistance and defiance. I joined others in the streets chanting ‘Assad is down!’ with unwavering conviction.”
When he heard the news that Syria would be free, Akil rushed to the place that meant most to him: the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts, where he studied. There, alongside fellow students, they toppled the statue of Hafez al-Assad, Assad’s father and former president of Syria – “a long-awaited moment that symbolised breaking free from the chains of fear and control”, he said.
Syria’s creative scene has been limited and restricted by government regulations – now there is a hope that it will be allowed to thrive once more in freedom.
But the road ahead is also an uncertain one. Many people I spoke to in the streets shared concerns about what was to come next. “The end of one oppressive system could bring the emergence of another, and there is a real fear of strict religious rule imposing new restrictions on the creative freedom we long for,” Akil said.
Younger generations in Damascus have grown up under the Assad regime. As a 34-year-old Syrian, I’ve lived my entire life with an Assad as president of the country. Many of us are excited to witness the birth of a new country. Shoruk is a 24-year-old dental student. She told me she was overwhelmed with emotion when she heard Assad had fled. “I thought of my late father and how he would have reacted, how for many years he waited for this moment,” she said. “I thought of my siblings and how they no longer have to be estranged from this country, that they can finally come back home. I thought of the members of my family who were martyred during the civil war.”
Despite the celebrations, there have been security concerns for Damascene residents. Sounds of gunfire continue to ring out in the streets, and there have been reports of looting and petty crimes in some areas that have been without electricity, leaving many cold and in the dark during a tough winter.
“The celebratory gunfire just wouldn’t stop even after the sun had already risen,” Shoruk told me. She left her flat on Sunday morning to see if the shops were open, but she was advised by a neighbour to return home as shots that were being fired in the air were falling back down and hitting people from above.
There will be many challenges ahead, but Syrians can now look towards a future without Assad. Things might not be perfect for quite some time, but building a state in the aftermath of one of the most brutal regimes the Middle East has seen was never going to be an easy task.
Syria is now free, and it was Syrians who freed themselves. With that energy and momentum, the potential for the country returning to its former glory is high. The immediate priority must now be getting our refugees back home and starting the process of healing this fragmented nation.