departee

“We have returned to Aleppo after 10 years. We have arrived and can finally see it, thank God. After avoiding the regime’s army checkpoints, we have managed to enter it,” Babouly said. “Honestly, in all Syrian areas, God willing, we will return to our villages and once again delight our eyes with them.”

Mohamed Hijazi, a local activist, likewise expressed relief as he stood outside Aleppo’s ancient citadel. He put the week’s events in the context of a longer, historical fight over the region that has seen multiple attempts at conquest.

“This country has endured countless occupations: the Persians, the Romans, the French, the English and the Ottomans. The last to come to this castle was Qassem Soleimani,” Hijazi said, referring to the Iranian military leader who was assassinated in 2020 by the US.

In 2015, Soleimani led forces loyal to Syria’s government in a successful offensive to recapture rebel-held areas in and around Aleppo.

“Thank God he’s gone, and we’ve reclaimed our land,” Hijazi said. “Syria belongs to its people. This is [a] free Syria.”

However, another resident – who asked to be referred to only by his first name, Mohamed – expressed trepidation at the recent resurgence of fighting.

“Honestly, I was afraid the rebels might harm us when we first arrived in the city. But thank God, things are safe and calm now,” he said.

Karam Shaak, a Syrian political economist, took part in the Arab Spring uprising in March 2011 that ultimately sparked the country’s civil war.

But as opposition forces entered his former home of Aleppo this week, Shaak explained he was juggling contrasting emotions.

“It’s difficult not to feel jubilant with the recent developments,” he told Al Jazeera. “I’m actually very happy to see the statues of the Assad regime, the photos of Bashar al-Assad, being taken down.”

“But I must also admit that all of this is starting to subside, and I’m growing increasingly scared.”

Shaak explained that he still had extended family members in the city, and he – like many Aleppo residents – was uncertain about what would happen in the coming days.

He noted that, in the past, the Syrian government responded with heavy-handed force to opposition incursions.

“After 14 years of conflict, most people would want nothing but peace,” Shaak said.

“The Russian forces have actually already started bombing some parts of the city. And if we learned anything from the reaction of the regime and its allies, when the rebels were in control of the eastern part of the city, it is that they have no problem flattening the whole city.”

Shaak added that the renewed fighting in Aleppo could ultimately spur a new wave of internally displaced people or IDPs. So far, however, Shaak said that has not materialised.

“We’re not seeing actually large waves of IDPs. We’re not seeing people leaving,” he explained.

But he warned that humanitarian groups should be prepared for the possibility.

“In most of cases where there has been military confrontations, people actually fled to opposition-held areas, not to regime-held areas,” Shaak said.

“I think it’s a bit too early to predict what’s going to happen, but if the air strikes continue, I would expect significant waves of IDPs moving mostly towards the north of the country. Which means that humanitarian organisations need to start preparing for that scenario as soon as possible.”