‘No-one slept’ – how news of the fall of Bashar al-Assad spread

Residents in Damascus have told of an anxious wait for news on what was happening in Syria’s capital city overnight.

After several hours of reports of rebels getting closer and closer, the forces declared Damascus “free” of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in the early hours of Sunday.

Unverified videos circulating on social media show people cheering in the streets and welcoming the rebel fighters, as well as inmates being freed from the notorious Saydnaya prison.

“No-one slept in Syria last night… no Syrian abroad slept,” Rania Kataf, who runs the Humans of Damascus Facebook page, said.

“The whole community was holding their phones waiting for the final news.

“How do I feel? Overwhelmed.. We all feel like we’ve been under water, literally, for thirteen years, and we all just took a breath.

“And I know that there are so many people who are much older than me who have been through too much.”

She said she had “mixed feelings” since the offensive by rebel groups began, but that she was no longer afraid.

In the past, she said, she had been “scared of sharing an opinion I was so scared of even putting a like, putting a heart on someone from the opposition.”

Danny Makki, a journalist living in Damascus, described the scenes on Sunday morning in Umayyad Square, which is home to key government agencies, including the Ministry of Defence and the Syrian Armed Forces.

“People were firing guns into the air, people were dancing, taking photos and crying,” he said.

“I spoke to soldiers from the militia. One said he had been preparing for this for a long time.

“He wasn’t taking part in the offensive in Aleppo, but when he saw the rebels arrive on the outskirts of Damascus, that’s when he took up arms.”

He said some of the rebel fighters were using abandoned Syrian army vehicles.

“When I was driving around Damascus, I saw the Syrian army walking in civilian clothes on the road, not knowing where to go.”

Although there are celebrations, he said peoples’ immediate concern was security, and “making sure there is no infighting within the opposition ranks.”

Another Damascus resident, who asked to be anonymous, told the BBC: “For the very first time, there is a true feeling of freedom.”

“What we’re feeling really resembles what we felt during the revolution when it began in 2011. This is the continuation of a dream that had started that year.”

He said that Syrians feel fear and worry about the future, but “today, all the Syrian people will only celebrate.”

Further south, Yazan Al Amari runs a small phone shop in the city of Deraa, where civilian militias affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have already taken control.

He told the BBC that he is travelling with friends to the Syrian capital today to celebrate.

“When we woke up and saw the news, at first we couldn’t comprehend or fully grasp it at all. People were very scared of rumours.

“But when we realised it was actually true, we got in our cars, and now we are on our way to Damascus to celebrate.”

“People felt like they were in a dream,” he said.

“You could see people crying. We were very afraid until today.”

Al Amari says this is the first time in many years that he has been able to talk freely.

“I used to be unable to leave my small town or move freely at all. But now, I can go wherever I want,” he said.

But many people fear the unknowns of the future.

A Syrian man in London told me of fears for his family living on the coastal region of Syria.

“We are Eastern Orthodox Christians, I am afraid my family will be slaughtered,” the man, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

“Everybody is in a panic mode. They are trying to find a way out of the country.”

His family are making preparations to leave Syria, but the borders with Lebanon and Jordan are closed.

“Bags are packed, we are just waiting to see if any of the airports would open a flight to any surrounding country. Or if the land borders would allow any special groups to leave Syria,” he said.

“It is a fact that people are celebrating out of fear,” he said.

“They are celebrating because they are afraid they’ll be slaughtered if they don’t pretend to be excited. On one hand, we are all glad the regime is gone, on the other hand, we don’t know the outcome of the alternative government. After all, this rebel group is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.”

The group which has taken control of large parts of the country, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, have said that Christians are safe.

“We just don’t know how true this statement is,” he said.

Additional reporting by Wietske Burema