Students and government employees began returning to their institutions in Damascus on Sunday, signalling a gradual return to normal everyday life in the Syrian capital, a week after the ouster of long-time president Bashar al-Assad.
Last week, opposition forces advanced on Damascus and forced al-Assad, who had ruled for more than two decades, to flee the country.
On Wednesday, the country’s new rulers lifted a brief curfew on Damascus and urged people to report back to their workplaces. On Sunday, schools reopened in Damascus and its suburbs, witnesses said. Moreover, thousands of students turned up at the university in Damascus where dozens of them cleaned up, witnesses added. Some students voiced excitement about Syria without al-Assad’s family that ruled the country for decades.
"We came to our university today to clean it, ushering in a new era in Syria,” a student named Ahed Ibrahim told DPA, condemning attacks on government institutions.
"These institutions belong to the Syrian people and not to the overthrown regime. Anyone who vandalized the state institutions, we condemn them because they subverted our property,” he added.
"Thousands have sacrificed their lives so that we can see this day,” Nessrin al-Zuaby, a female university student, said as she held a Syrian flag symbolizing the 2011 pro-democracy uprising against al-Assad."We want Syria to be a democratic and free country,” added the student, a native of the southern city of Daraa. (DPA)