The city of Douma in East Ghouta mourned the loss of five of its residents, killed while fighting alongside government forces and their allied militias in Idlib
AMMAN— A few civilians disembarked from an old bus that had just stopped in the western countryside of Damascus and continued their journey to Darayya, a city that has been pummeled into rubble by bombardment of government forces, on foot. The city has become the example of organized mass displacement in Syria after an extended siege.
Amman- Al-Rukban camp has been without flour for three days, a consequence of Damascus’s tightening siege on it, leaving the 12,000 residents who remain there to rely on smugglers for food.
The rumors were unconfirmed: two men who had returned to Syrian government territory from Rukban camp via a Russian-backed “humanitarian corridor” were reportedly shot dead by security personnel over the weekend, after attempting to escape a government holding center in Homs province.
Together, the grainy photos—selfies sent over a messaging app—tell the story of one life in East Ghouta, and how it has changed drastically since a year ago.
A crowded bus station in downtown Damascus in January. Photo courtesy of Lens Young Dimashqi.
From his life of exile in rebel-held Idlib province, Muhammad al-Hassan clings to any news that slips through the state security net back home in East Ghouta.
There were no details in the announcement on where the supposed meeting would take place, or even if American officials had been notified ahead of time.Either way, that meeting went ahead on Tuesday.
Hop onto any one of the public minibuses parked on the street outside, and you can be in Damascus in about an hour or two. It’s one of many reminders of home here at Women Now, a center run by Syrian women refugees in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley.
For around five years, Judi Arash lived under siege in a bombed-out, encircled rebel-held area of northern Homs that, at one point, was restricted to just three square kilometers.As a respite, she threw herself into her job as a journalist, choosing to report on the conflict unfolding around her.
