THOUSANDS OF SYRIANS RETURN TO HOMS

Homs, 13 Rajab 1435/12 May 2014 (MINA) – Thousands of Syrians returned to Homs after an agreement signed this week which allowed opposition to leave the besieged city and regime forces to take over.

The Syrian army entered the city on Friday for the first time in nearly two years thanks to an unprecedented agreement with the Free Syrian Army fighters, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

State television broadcast live scenes of families checking the ruins of what were once their homes. A few of them said that they were grateful for being able to return home. The buildings bear the effects of more than three years of civil war, including bullet holes and destruction caused by the bombs which have been falling almost non-stop.

Homs Governor Talal Bazzari said that the government has instructed the local authorities to form local committees to oversee their neighbourhoods. “They will assess the damage and cooperate with the relevant authorities to secure the necessary materials to rebuild the city,” he stressed.

The last group of rebel fighters left Homs on Friday as the regime army took control of the city, except for Alwa’er neighbourhood where tens of thousands of displaced people live. The Syrian regime and oppositions are said to have been engaged in talks to reach a similar agreement to surrender the neighbourhood to the government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the city of Homs has witnessed the longest period of siege by regime forces in the country. More than two thousand people have been killed over the course of the conflict.

The Syrian Civil War, also known as the Syrian Uprising, is an armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Ba’ath government, which took power in 1963, and those seeking to oust it. The unrest began in March 2011 in Daraa, at first with protests, but a violent response from the government and subsequent clashes left dozens of opposition protesters and at least 7 policemen dead.

The international response to the conflict has been described as a proxy war due to the nature of this involvement. By July 2013, the Syrian government was in control of approximately 30-40% of the country’s territory and 60% of the Syrian population.

A late 2012 UN report described the conflict as being “overtly sectarian in nature”, between mostly Alawite government forces, militias and other Shia groups fighting largely against Sunni-dominated rebel groups, though both opposition and government forces denied that. (T/P04/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)