When the strike against Bashar al-Assad began so suddenly, on Friday 29th November, Syrians knew that the regime had collapsed politically. As the days passed, and as the Syrian opposition factions and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of larger swathes of the country, there were very large withdrawals from the ranks of Assad's soldiers and his allies, Iran and Russia.
Throughout this time there were a lot of unknowns. When it was confirmed that Assad had fled with his family to Moscow on a plane, I really could not believe what I was reading. I was saying to myself is: this real? Or just a dream? We never thought Assad would run in this way. He destroyed Syria by staying in power. When I understood that he had gone I was crying hard from joy. I did not know what to do, or even what I should do. In fact, I think that during the whole week I only slept a few hours.
The regime started to crumble as soon as Syria’s rebel factions liberated the city of Aleppo, where this fight began. But when the battle started in another region, in the eastern countryside of Idlib and the territory outside of Hama, the Assad army really fell apart.
As Syria’s cities were liberated, their residents had many questions. First, will the rebels be an improvement from the Assad regime? Will they provide us with the necessities of life, stability and security? Now, after just over a week of fighting and with the Assad era over, people are saying that these rebel leaders are indeed better. From Hama, which fell to the opposition on Friday 6th December, one civilian told me: “Now we are breathing and feeling truly free”.
I was displaced from my city, Maarat al-Numan, south of Idlib, five years ago. In 2019, I was directly targeted by regime warplanes. My aunt was killed and my family and I were injured, yet we miraculously survived. When I fled my home I went to an area near the Syrian-Turkish border and stayed there.
Now, after five years I have finally been able to return to my home, but sadly everything has changed. Maarat al-Numan is a ghost town, not suitable for living. There is no electricity, no water, no internet, nothing to return to. My house has been completely destroyed. The roof was broken so that the iron and electric cables could be stolen. Everything was stolen. I do not have any money to rebuild it, so I will stay where I have been living, near the Turkish border. I hope one day to rebuild my house and return to it.
The rebels’ control of Syria and the overthrow of the regime are historic moments—and they really cannot be described. This has been a week of victories over a war criminal who killed and displaced millions. There are thousands of detainees who were murdered by the Assad regime in its notorious prisons. His fall is a victory for humanity and justice—and what we are witnessing today in Syria will change the entire Middle East.
