Latest news from Syria: ‘The future is ours,’ says rebel leader after Assad flees Damascus

Hugo Bachega
Middle East Correspondent

On the Turkish-Syrian border, hours after the rebels entered Damascus, a group of around 50 Syrian men waited to return to their country.

This is the crossing leading to Idlib, which for years was the rebel stronghold in the northwest, and Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city, which was captured by government forces last week.

Abdo Ghrebi, 27, left the country in 2017 and tried to return to Idlib.

He said the people of Syria had been waiting for this moment “for a long time.”

He was traveling alone and said his mother and sister planned to join him once the situation became more stable.

“We are peaceful people. We didn’t like war or violence, we just wanted peace, unlike the regime,” he said.

“We have lost many martyrs, but fortunately we are now getting our dignity and freedom back and will have a better future. Our losses were not in vain.”

He said his father and brother died during the siege of Eastern Ghouta by government forces in the early stages of the civil war and that he only managed to escape through a tunnel.

29-year-old Said Kreaydiye also tried to return to Idlib, where his mother was waiting for him. He was only carrying a backpack and a small plastic bag.

When I asked him what he thought about the overthrow of President Assad, he gave me a big smile.

“We are delighted that he is gone. We hope everything gets better. At least we’ll be home.”