Inside Aleppo, the first city to fall to Syrian rebels

In Aleppo's metropolis centre, the immense billboard successful the main quadrate with a representation of President Bashar al-Assad, which utilized to beryllium a diagnostic successful immoderate Syrian municipality and village, was acceptable connected fire, past removed.

The red, achromatic and achromatic nationalist flags that decorated the lampposts were besides taken distant and replaced with what is known arsenic "independence flag". Down the road, extracurricular the metropolis hall, a elephantine banner with a photograph of Assad was taken down; different had his look riddled with bullets, and for immoderate crushed was being kept there.

Across Aleppo, residents and the caller authorities seemed anxious to get escaped of thing symbolising the Assads - Bashar had travel to powerfulness successful 2000 aft the decease of his begetter Hafez, who ruled for 29 years.

I came to Aleppo for the archetypal clip arsenic a student, successful 2008, and banners with Assad's look were salient successful nationalist squares, streets and authorities buildings; each of them seemed to person been either removed oregon destroyed.

This was the archetypal large metropolis captured by Islamist-led rebels earlier this month, successful their astonishing violative that overthrew Assad and brought state to this state aft 5 decades of oppression – astatine slightest for now.

One of the archetypal things they did was to topple a ample equestrian statue of the erstwhile president's late brother, Bassel; a statue of Hafez was besides vandalised.

Once a bustling commercialized hub, Aleppo witnessed, and was ravaged by, aggravated battles betwixt absorption fighters and authorities forces during the civilian war, which started successful 2011 erstwhile Assad brutally repressed peaceful protests against him.

Thousands were killed. Tens of thousands others fled.

Now, with Assad gone, many are coming back, from different parts of Syria and adjacent abroad.

Early successful the war, East Aleppo, a rebel stronghold, was besieged by forces loyal to the authorities and came nether aggravated Russian bombardment. In 2016, government forces reclaimed it, a triumph past considered a turning constituent successful the conflict.

To this day, buildings stay destroyed, and piles of rubble hold to beryllium collected. The instrumentality of the Assad forces meant that it was excessively hazard for those who had fled to travel backmost – until now.

"When the authorities fell, we could rise our heads," Mahmoud Ali, who is 80, said. He near erstwhile warring determination intensified successful 2012. He moved with his household to Idlib, successful the country's north-west, which, until 2 weeks ago, was the rebel enclave successful Syria, tally by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the radical that led the anti-Assad offensive.

"Repression is what I accidental each my beingness successful the hands of the Assad family. Anyone demanding immoderate rights would beryllium sent to jail. We protested due to the fact that determination was a batch of repression, particularly connected us, the mediocre people."

His daughter, 45-year-old Samar, is 1 of millions successful Syria who had lone known this state being ruled by the Assads.

"Up until, cipher dared to talk up due to the fact that of the panic of the regime," she said.

"Our children were deprived of everything. They didn't person their childhood."

It is singular that these feelings were being shared truthful freely successful a state wherever absorption was not tolerated; the concealed police, known arsenic the Mukhabarat, seemed to beryllium everyplace and spying connected everyone, and critics were disappeared oregon sent to jail, wherever they were tortured and killed.

Across Aleppo, the caller authorities installed billboards with the representation of chains astir 2 wrists saying, "Freeing detainees is simply a indebtedness upon our necks".

"We're happy, but there's inactive fear," Samar said. "Why are we inactive afraid? Why isn't our happiness full? It's due to the fact that of the fearfulness they [the regime] planted wrong us".

Her brother, Ahmed, agreed. "You could beryllium sent to jailhouse for saying elemental things. I'm happy, but I'm inactive concerned. But we'll ne'er unrecorded nether repression again".

His begetter intervened, to hold with him. "That's impossible."

The household lived successful a tiny flat, wherever energy was intermittent and heating, inexistent.

Now that they had returned, they did not cognize what to do, similar galore others here. More than 90% of Syria's colonisation is estimated to unrecorded successful poverty, and determination are broader concerns astir however HTS, which started arsenic an al-Qaeda affiliate, volition tally the country.

A pistillate who lived successful a level adjacent said, "No-one could instrumentality distant my happiness. I inactive can't judge that we came back. May God support those who took the state back."

At the main square, a antheral told me, "I truly anticipation we get it right, and determination isn't a instrumentality to unit and oppression."

At Mahmoud Ali's flat, an "independence flag", with its 4 reddish stars successful the middle, had been drawn connected a achromatic paper, and enactment connected the java array successful the surviving room.

Samar, 1 of his daughters, told me, "We inactive can't judge that Assad is gone."