Tweet
Bangalore Mirror, India
May 10 2014
After 2 yrs, thousands return home to Homs
AFP | May 10, 2014, 08.51 PM IST
HOMS Syrians streamed back into the ruins of the Old City of Homs on
Saturday, picking through the remains of their homes and trying to
come to terms with the destruction.
Thousands of people walked through the devastated streets of their
former neighbourhoods, some appearing shellshocked by the scale of the
damage.
The influx came a day after the last rebel holdouts left the area
under an evacuation deal that handed the Old City back to the
government, granting it a symbolic victory.
The pullout leaves the rebels confined to a single district on the
outskirts of the central city, once dubbed "the capital of the
revolution" against President Bashar al-Assad.
On Saturday, Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi declared the
evacuated areas safe, after troops swept for explosives. "Governor
Talal Barazi announced that the Old City of Homs is safe and free of
weapons and insurgents thanks to the sacrifices of the Syrian army,"
state news agency SANA said. Residents quickly returned to see what
remained of their homes, and retrieve whatever was left behind.
Many were visibly distressed by the scale of destruction, with rubble
strewn across streets and every building bearing signs of the conflict
that wracked the city.
Rebel forces in the Old City were under government siege for nearly
two years before the deal to evacuate, and regime troops shelled the
area almost daily throughout. "The destruction is just horrible," said
37-year-old Rima Battah, in the Hamidiyeh district of the Old City.
"My husband went to our house yesterday and found it destroyed. We
came back together today to get our things," she added, gesturing to
the five large bags of possession surrounding her. Dozens of families
were doing the same, gathering whatever clothes and keepsakes could be
salvaged.
Nawal al-Masri (51) had worked in the Old City as a seamstress and
returned to check on her former workshop. "Everything is destroyed,
all the sewing machines have been stolen, the fridge has been stolen,
even the generator," she said.
"I've worked here for 30 years," she added. "There's nothing left
except one basket, in which I found a single pair of scissors." She
said she planned to file a request for compensation from a $588,000
fund set up by the local chamber of industry.
Barazi told SANA he was forming committees of local residents to
assess the damage. The evacuation of the Old City by the rebels has
been a symbolic coup for the regime.
State media broadcast live footage from inside the Old City,
interviewing returning residents who expressed their gratitude to the
army and Assad. They filmed inside an Armenian church compound part of
which the rebels has used as a headquarters and field hospital, with a
room filled with hospital beds and medicines.
In the courtyard, rebel graffiti remained, reading "Down with Assad"
and "the days are numbered, the end is coming." Outside, damage was
visible to the compound's facade, and opposite a wall had been painted
with the flag of the Syrian uprising.
The deal to evacuate the Old City involved the release of hostages
being held by rebels elsewhere in Syria, and the entry of aid to two
towns under opposition siege.
A dispute over the aid delivery held up the deal half-way through, but
on Friday assistance entered Nubol and Zahraa, and the final rebels
left Homs.
The rebels were allowed to leave with some weapons and granted safe
passage to opposition-held territory elsewhere in Homs province. But
the government has claimed the deal as a victory, less than a month
before a presidential election that is expected to return Assad to
office.
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/news/world/After-2-yrs-thousands-return-home-to-Homs/articleshow/34935646.cms
May 10 2014
After 2 yrs, thousands return home to Homs
AFP | May 10, 2014, 08.51 PM IST
HOMS Syrians streamed back into the ruins of the Old City of Homs on
Saturday, picking through the remains of their homes and trying to
come to terms with the destruction.
Thousands of people walked through the devastated streets of their
former neighbourhoods, some appearing shellshocked by the scale of the
damage.
The influx came a day after the last rebel holdouts left the area
under an evacuation deal that handed the Old City back to the
government, granting it a symbolic victory.
The pullout leaves the rebels confined to a single district on the
outskirts of the central city, once dubbed "the capital of the
revolution" against President Bashar al-Assad.
On Saturday, Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi declared the
evacuated areas safe, after troops swept for explosives. "Governor
Talal Barazi announced that the Old City of Homs is safe and free of
weapons and insurgents thanks to the sacrifices of the Syrian army,"
state news agency SANA said. Residents quickly returned to see what
remained of their homes, and retrieve whatever was left behind.
Many were visibly distressed by the scale of destruction, with rubble
strewn across streets and every building bearing signs of the conflict
that wracked the city.
Rebel forces in the Old City were under government siege for nearly
two years before the deal to evacuate, and regime troops shelled the
area almost daily throughout. "The destruction is just horrible," said
37-year-old Rima Battah, in the Hamidiyeh district of the Old City.
"My husband went to our house yesterday and found it destroyed. We
came back together today to get our things," she added, gesturing to
the five large bags of possession surrounding her. Dozens of families
were doing the same, gathering whatever clothes and keepsakes could be
salvaged.
Nawal al-Masri (51) had worked in the Old City as a seamstress and
returned to check on her former workshop. "Everything is destroyed,
all the sewing machines have been stolen, the fridge has been stolen,
even the generator," she said.
"I've worked here for 30 years," she added. "There's nothing left
except one basket, in which I found a single pair of scissors." She
said she planned to file a request for compensation from a $588,000
fund set up by the local chamber of industry.
Barazi told SANA he was forming committees of local residents to
assess the damage. The evacuation of the Old City by the rebels has
been a symbolic coup for the regime.
State media broadcast live footage from inside the Old City,
interviewing returning residents who expressed their gratitude to the
army and Assad. They filmed inside an Armenian church compound part of
which the rebels has used as a headquarters and field hospital, with a
room filled with hospital beds and medicines.
In the courtyard, rebel graffiti remained, reading "Down with Assad"
and "the days are numbered, the end is coming." Outside, damage was
visible to the compound's facade, and opposite a wall had been painted
with the flag of the Syrian uprising.
The deal to evacuate the Old City involved the release of hostages
being held by rebels elsewhere in Syria, and the entry of aid to two
towns under opposition siege.
A dispute over the aid delivery held up the deal half-way through, but
on Friday assistance entered Nubol and Zahraa, and the final rebels
left Homs.
The rebels were allowed to leave with some weapons and granted safe
passage to opposition-held territory elsewhere in Homs province. But
the government has claimed the deal as a victory, less than a month
before a presidential election that is expected to return Assad to
office.
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/news/world/After-2-yrs-thousands-return-home-to-Homs/articleshow/34935646.cms