Thousands of Syrians take to the country’s streets to celebrate ‘victory of the revolution’

On Sunday (8), the armed coalition dominated by the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power in Damascus, after an offensive that lasted eleven days.

Many waved the three-star independence flag, a symbol of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising, now adopted by the new authorities. In the old city, traders sell these new flags that would have been impossible to see on the streets of Damascus just a few days ago. The young people made the victory sign in front of the cameras of the Arab and Western media. This unprecedented scene in Damascus brought back memories of the first peaceful demonstrations that broke out in Syria, before being bloodily repressed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Since the beginning of the uprising in 2011, which degenerated into civil war, more than 100,000 people have died in the Syrian regime’s prisons, many tortured, estimated the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), in 2022.

On the walls of the mosque hang dozens of photos of people who disappeared during the regime of the Assad clan.

Earlier this morning, in a Telegram video, HTS leader Abu Mouhammad al-Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmad al-Chareh, “congratulated the Syrian people on the victory of the revolution” and called on the population to ” took to the streets to express their joy”. He also called for “building the country”.