Jubilant Syrians collect in squares for victory rallies

1000’s of Syrians took to the streets of the capital, Damascus, and different cities to have fun the autumn of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

In Damascus, residents gathered on the iconic Umayyad Mosque to hope forward of jubilant rallies referred to as by Islamist rebels who led the armed rebellion towards Assad.

Insurgent chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who has now began utilizing his actual title, Ahmed al-Sharaa, urged Syrians on Friday “to take to the streets to specific their pleasure” to mark “the victory of the blessed revolution.” .

Assad fled to Russia on Sunday because the regime established by his father 50 years in the past collapsed in a number of tumultuous days.

The Umayyad Sq. in Damascus reigned in a festive environment. Loudspeakers have been put in and music performed: “Increase your heads excessive, you’re Syrian.”

Folks waved the Syrian opposition flag and chanted revolutionary songs and slogans.

Amongst them have been males in black fight gear, carrying bulletproof vests and carrying firearms.

They have been members of the insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Some stopped to take images with civilians. Considered one of them took out a chunk of paper and commenced studying poetry he had written praising the nation.

Sara al-Zobi, a college pupil residing in Damascus however initially from Daraa – town seen by the opposition because the birthplace of the revolution – mentioned Syrians had gathered to have fun on Friday and would construct the longer term “hand in hand”.

“We’re coming collectively as a result of we’re blissful that Syria is liberated, we’re blissful to have been free of the jail we have been residing in,” mentioned one other participant, Nour Thi al-Ghina.

Aside from the celebrations, bereaved households went to gather the our bodies of their members of the family who disappeared over the previous decade within the Assad regime’s infamous prisons.

At a morgue in central Damascus, some held up images of kin attempting to match them to the our bodies mendacity in baggage in entrance of them.

Some managed to seek out their lacking fathers, brothers or sons, whereas others left sobbing after discovering no clues.

The morgue was filled with our bodies transferred from Saydnaya Jail, extensively recognized right here as a human slaughterhouse.

“All of the our bodies confirmed apparent indicators of malnutrition, they have been so skinny,” mentioned Aslan Ibrahim, a forensic physician on the hospital.

One journalist’s physique confirmed indicators of torture, he mentioned, including: “His arm was damaged, and his leg too, he additionally had a variety of bruises.”

Key websites for the huge community of intelligence companies which have tried for many years to brutally crush opposition actions are on the identical central streets of the Syrian capital.

Within the basement of the state safety headquarters within the Kafr Sousa neighborhood are row upon row of tiny cells, every barely two meters by one meter and guarded by thick steel doorways. metal.

Inside, darkish stains mark the filthy partitions. Detainees may keep in these cells for months whereas being interrogated and tortured.

They lie just under road stage, on a busy street the place hundreds of strange Syrians handed each day going about their each day lives simply meters from the place their compatriots have been being detained and tortured.

A brief distance away is the Common Directorate of Intelligence, one other a part of Syria’s former community of intelligence companies.

There are an enormous variety of paperwork that doc how the Assad regime monitored its residents.

There are rows upon rows of paper recordsdata within the cupboards and, in some rooms, stacks of notebooks stacked from flooring to ceiling.

Close by is a pc server room. The flooring and partitions are stark white, and the black knowledge storage models hum quietly.

Energy was minimize to a lot of Damascus, however it seems that this facility was so giant that it had its personal energy provide.