HOPEFUL Syrian residents are returning home to a city flooded by the haunting memories of Bashar al-Assad’s reign of horror.
Homs has been labeled as the city where brutality knew no bounds as Assad and his supporters destroyed it completely. The remnants of Homs now stand as a painful reminder of the suffering endured by the Syrian population.
Loyal fighters to the Assad regime made it their mission to sow havoc across Homs more than a decade ago.
They tactically ripped apart the resistant rebels who had made the area their stronghold.
It soon became known as a hell-like pinnacle for Assad’s most despicable war crimes – enduring years of mass killings, starvation, rape and torture.
Residents were forced to quickly flee in huge droves as the military moved in and set their sights on any remaining opposition forces.
Thousands died in the civil conflict between 2011 to 2014 as the Syrian government wrestled control of the city away from the rebels.
Foreign journalists such as brave Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik were just two of those ruthlessly assassinated as they tried to report on what took place there.
Terrified civilians were forced to endure daily gunfire overhead as both sides ruthlessly clashed with one another.
France’s former foreign minister, Alain Juppé, once said Assad “broke the limits of barbarity” when he tore Homs apart.
Human Rights Watch has been at the forefront of trying to expose the horrors for years.
Many people have opened up over the haunting nature of Assad’s often unlawful arrests which saw dozens of people go missing during the Homs invasion.
Government officials would round up groups of civilians and throw them into cells for opposing the Syrian army through peaceful protests, victims say.
Many claim through their own experiences or family member’s stories, that they were then mentally and physically abused through torture methods.
Victims of the Homs barbarity have alleged they were poked with burning metal rods and forced to ensure electric shocks for the pleasure of Assad’s cronies.
Others say they would be left begging for food and water after being detained for weeks.
Human Rights Watch have also spoken to family members of prisoners who claim their loved ones were never heard from again.
Many are feared to have died in captivity.
This brutal and systematic destruction of Homs and its people soon forced thousands to move out and escape the horrors that had engulfed the city.
By this point many of their homes had been obliterated in bomb attacks and mortar strikes.
RETURNING HOME
More than a decade on from the end of the bloody fighting in Homs people are finally starting to return, report the Telegraph.
Assad’s government crumbled in mere days after the rebels launched a surprise offensive on November 27 and swept aside the corrupt and disloyal army.
The dictator fled Syria in total humiliation and gave up his power as he left.
The siege of Damascus, Aleppo and the surrounding areas provided a welcome relief for the people trapped under Assad’s thumb across Syria.
The fall of the regime sparked days of celebration with many rejoicing over getting their country back.
But many of the cities occupied by the government during Assad’s reign were left virtually abandoned and unwanted.
One of the most neglected areas was Homs which is said to have been left looking like a wasteland after the army took control in 2014.
Many of the deserted homes are still unlivable today for those making the bold choice to return to the city.
As piles of rubble left scattered on the streets provide a reminder of Assad and his brutality.
Fadia al-Faraja tried to return home this weekend but found just a heap of ruined rocks where her house once stood.
Alongside her devastated family they were forced to spend the night inside a school which has become a makeshift hostel for many.
Another returning resident, Amina Obeid, has also tried to move back to her family home only to be met with a heartbroken sight.
Amina and her family were pushed into being refugees along with over 100,000 Syrians who went to the Akkar district, northern Lebanon.
They made the tough choice to leave after Amina’s son was shot dead by a sniper.
She ventured back to Homs with her daughter and three-year-old grandson on Sunday to see if they could ever move back.
She told the Telegraph: “When I was in Lebanon I had one dream every day: to come home to Syria.
“I’m so happy to be back but so horrified by the destruction I have seen on the way.”
Amina’s block of flats was still barely intact as she opened up the door and walked inside.
Her son’s tricycle was sat in the centre of the living room exactly where it had been left – simply collecting dust.
Many more returning Syrians are set to face the harrowing memories of what Assad and his men caused all those years ago in the coming weeks.
The Assad Dynasty
THE Assad dynasty in Syria began with Hafez al-Assad – who seized power in 1971 through a military coup and established an authoritarian regime.
His rule focused on centralised government control, military strength, suppression of dissent, aligning Syria closely with the Soviet Union, and an anti-Israel stance.
He established a cult of personality and corruption flourished as loyalty to Hafez became the most important value.
Bashar was not the first choice to succeed his father, with his elder son Bassel groomed to take over the role.
Bashar was working as an ophthalmologist at Western Eye Hospital in London when Bassel died in a car crash in 1994.
Suddenly, Bashar became the heir apparent and was called back to Damascus to be groomed for leadership.
He spent six and a half years learning the ropes from his father and working in the military.
Hafez died from a heart attack in 2000 and, with the loyalty of his party, transferred power to Bashar establishing the first Arab dynastic republic.
Initially, there were hopes for liberal reforms under Bashar, but hopes faded as he instead continued his father’s repressive policies.
When protesters rose up in 2011, Assad brutally sought to crush them with harsh violence.
But, he lost the support of many of his people and brought about the Syrian Civil War.
In 2013, the cruel dictator even used chemical weapons on rebel areas as he did anything to stay in power.
The civil war dragged on killing hundreds of thousands, destroying cities, and opening the way for ISIS to flourish.
Eventually, Assad gained the upper hand after Iran sent in Hezbollah crack forces and Russia sent in jets to bomb rebels and mercenary group Wagner to fight them.
It appeared that Assad was on the brink of winning the war earlier this year with the rebels confined to an area in the northwest of the country.
Assad chose not to negotiate with the rebels and instead sought to defeat them completely.
But the rebels launched a surprise offensive on November 27 and swept aside Assad’s corrupt and disloyal army.
After seizing Damascus in a swift and decisive offensive, rebel forces declared victory and announced that the city was “free of Assad.”
The dictator fled Syria in total humiliation – having to issue a statement through the Russians he had resigned the presidency and left the country.
Bashar has now been given refuge in Moscow and is currently under Russian protection.
The collapse of the 54-year-old Assad dynasty ignited celebrations across Syria.
In the capital, thousands poured into the streets, waving rebel flags and lighting flares.
Statues of Assad and his late father, Hafez, were toppled in symbolic acts of defiance.
