damascenes braced for long war
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Damascenes braced for long war

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice Damascenes braced for long war

Damascus - AFP

Woken up by artillery pounding the outskirts of Damascus, three-year-old Ammar runs crying to his mother who reassures him it was only a ball that hit a wall of their home. Long spared the violence that has engulfed the rest of the country, the Syrian capital is now submerged in the war between government forces and rebels out to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad. "He falls back asleep, but it's me who spends the night in fear that a shell will fall on our heads," Umm Ammar, 34, tells her friend, neighbor and fellow mother Umm Alma, 31. "Death can come at any moment and the children are afraid of everything," says the young mother, wearing a black coat and matching scarf. The two friends, originally from Qudsaya to the north of Damascus, fled when their city became a battlefield. In Damascus, they live in different neighborhoods but they were reunited for the first time in the central Arnous Square. "Alma has got used to the war, and anyway I can't stay cloistered in the house. Life must go on," says Umm Alma, wearing a pink scarf. The army, especially the Fourth Armored Division, an elite unit headed by the president's brother Maher, is tasked with preventing rebels from entering the city and trying to evict them from strongholds in southern and eastern suburbs. To prevent infiltrations, the capital, where the rumble of artillery and roar of fighter jets constantly reverberate, has isolated itself with multiple checkpoints at every entrance to the city. The capital has been split up into eight sectors. In case of attack, each would be isolated to launch efforts to retake it from rebels, a security source explained. A senior manager at a government ministry, Amira arrived late and exhausted for work, saying the crackle of automatic weapons kept her up all night and that the 20-kilometer (12-mile) commute to work took two hours. "I can't do this anymore. The drive has become an ordeal because there are seven checkpoints on the way and I could be killed or abducted for ransom or because of my religion," says the woman, 30, grabbing a coffee and cigarette. She knows there will be no quick negotiated solution. "The government won't be negotiating with terrorists any time soon," she says, using the official terminology for rebels in an almost 20-month uprising against the regime that has cost tens of thousands of lives. Plagued by attacks, especially car bombs, the capital has been disfigured by concrete walls, sandbags and streets blocked off by multiple checkpoints, resembling Baghdad during the bloodiest years of sectarian unrest in Iraq. In the evening people do not venture out of their neighborhoods. "Checkpoints in the streets are infuriating but I would rather be inconvenienced than have innocent people die in explosions," says Yazan, 24, a government clerk. While Damascus has not suffered the street fighting of the cities of Aleppo or Homs, the country's flailing economy and skyrocketing inflation make their mark on everyday life. In Salhiyeh, in the center, the owner of a jeans store complains that his profits have slumped 30 percent. "People are saving and keeping their money for food, school supplies, electricity and water," laments Tawfik, 64. "In the 80s (under a state-planned economy), we had customers but no merchandise, now it's the opposite." In the jewelery shop next door, Fateh, is less down. "We no longer sell bracelets and trinkets. Now people buy gold, coins or necklaces, to preserve their savings." Farouq Shaman Hassiyan, 36, has more immediate concerns. He fled the central town of Rastan eight months ago with his wife and seven daughters when, according to him, his neighbors stole their car, his livestock and house. He has since put the whole family to work begging on the Damascus streets.  

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

damascenes braced for long war damascenes braced for long war

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

damascenes braced for long war damascenes braced for long war

 



GMT 11:03 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

No end to eyesores at Taj Mahal

GMT 10:18 2018 Thursday ,30 August

Iran incapable of closing Hormuz, Bab Al Mandeb

GMT 10:31 2014 Tuesday ,23 December

Mirages of failure: Lebanon cannot wait

GMT 04:53 2016 Monday ,16 May

English Premier League results

GMT 05:06 2024 Tuesday ,06 February

New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way

GMT 06:15 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Volkswagen clinches record sales

GMT 13:13 2016 Wednesday ,14 December

Unarmed old man killed by police in California

GMT 15:00 2017 Wednesday ,08 March

1 killed, 2 missing due to Avalanche in French Alps

GMT 12:07 2017 Saturday ,25 February

Renault’s R.S.17 features Infiniti co-built ERS

GMT 12:52 2017 Saturday ,04 November

Belgium 'to study' Spain's EU warrant for Catalan leader

GMT 08:40 2017 Wednesday ,01 November

Miss Morocco launch her first charity program

GMT 16:26 2016 Friday ,04 November

All Black brothers in arms ready for rare double

GMT 08:21 2017 Saturday ,30 September

Al Sayed underlines economic improvement

GMT 10:27 2017 Wednesday ,13 December

Strikes kill 12 in rebel-run Yemen prison camp

GMT 10:52 2017 Saturday ,14 October

NGOs slam UN aviation agency plan
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice