Barely a month after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Syrian cities celebrated New Year’s Eve on Thursday night with great festivities – but under strict security measures.
Soldiers patrolled the streets and made sure no one fired “celebratory shots”, writes the AFP news agency.
It was the first New Year celebration without Assad in power in over 50 years. Assad’s rule fell on December 8 after 13 years of civil war.
Ummayad Square in Damascus was buzzing with people waving revolution flags. People gathered here to witness a large firework display.
The news agency dpa has spoken to a woman in the square named Hala Ibrahim.
– This New Year has a special meaning. For the first time in Syria we can celebrate it without the presence of the Assad regime.
– I lived in fear for four decades under the rule of the Assads – both father and son. Now I hope that my children can live in freedom, in safety and with dignity, she says.
Security forces were massively present. The Home Office had previously warned against firing “celebratory shots” with pistols, and it had said offenders would be punished.
– Long live Syria, Assad has fallen!, shouted some children.
Another Damascus resident named Basel Ayoub tells dpa:
– We can finally taste the freedom that has been stolen from us for decades by the Assad family and its rule, it reads.
In cities such as Homs, Aleppo, Daraa and Suwayda, streets and squares were decorated with lights and colors to mark the event.
The green, white and black “flag of revolution” flew over the entire capital.
A sight like this – the symbol of the Syrian people’s revolt against the iron-fisted rule of the Assad dynasty – was unthinkable a month ago.
Rebel groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control of Syria on December 8 after a lightning offensive. It sent former President Assad and his family fleeing.
More than half a million people died in the 13-year civil war, as the country was divided into different regions controlled by different warring parties.
/ritzau/
Source: www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk
