Thousands of Syrians return to Homs

Thousands of Syrians returned to Homs on Saturday after an agreement signed this week which allowed rebels 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.

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 rebels 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.