Aleppo – Muhammad al-Ali
A state of shock and anticipation prevailed in the early hours of Friday, November 29, as news incessantly reported the advance of Syrian opposition forces and their control over neighborhood after neighborhood, starting from the Aleppo al-Jadida neighborhood on the western outskirts of Aleppo, after three days of the “Deterrence of Aggression” battles, during which the Military Operations Administration forces seized control of the western countryside of the city.
After four years of stagnation on the battlefield and the absence of the sounds of war from the city of Aleppo, transformations returned in an unprecedented manner, as regime forces withdrew suddenly and dramatically without any prior warning in a way no one had expected.
The regime’s forces left behind what remained of their personnel, who found themselves wandering aimlessly after a barrage of reassurances that official media and pro-regime journalists had attempted to broadcast throughout the preceding day of the attack, which asserted that there were sufficient defensive lines.
By the evening hours, a state of confusion and shock was evident in the streets, as reported by an Enab Baladi correspondent in Aleppo, amidst the residents’ bewilderment over their next steps, especially after the official closure of the Aleppo-Damascus (M5) international road and the shift of outbound trips from Aleppo to the Khanasir route.
A state of calm prevailed during the night hours, except for the sounds of gunfire, which turned out to be opposition forces shooting into the air in expression of joy at their control of the city.
On Friday morning (November 29), the atmosphere was generally calm in the city, but traffic was sparse, especially after the Military Operations Administration declared a curfew that ended at eight o’clock that morning.
In this report, Enab Baladi traces the route taken by military personnel loyal to the Syrian regime and their supporters, as well as civilians burdened by their fears while navigating a path haunted by memories of “theft, murder, and bloodshed”.
A difficult journey
The journey out of Aleppo required heading to its eastern part to reach the Khanasir road, but the unpleasant surprise was the presence of snipers said to belong to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) at the Lirmon roundabout, and passing through the area led to civilians being shot at, resulting in casualties and injuries.
According to Enab Baladi’s correspondent, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) checkpoints within the city attempted to reassure passersby, while the bodies of military personnel were scattered across several streets, especially near the Hamdaniya highway, where a previous headquarters of Liwa al-Quds, loyal to regime forces, is located.
The first step on the road was to head to the As-Safira area east of Aleppo, where dozens of cars and buses were gathering, in addition to the availability of petrol in the area to refuel vehicles, while some residents began distributing water and simple meals to the stranded cars in the traffic jam.
After exiting from As-Safira, the road began to widen with a decrease in congestion, reaching Khanasir, and from there towards Athria, which would become a pivotal point on a route that was bustling with military vehicles carrying soldiers leaving Aleppo.
The road was filled with civilians traversing the distance on foot, with eyes filled with confusion and fear, alongside the presence of tanks and empty troop transport vehicles belonging to the regime left abandoned on the roadside after the soldiers inside them had departed.
In Athria, suffering would reach its peak, as thousands of vehicles gathered on a narrow road flanked by dirt lands, leading vehicles to venture into them to bypass the congestion, especially with the presence of large military vehicles carrying soldiers and the injured, as well as large trucks carrying goods needing wide roads for passage, further complicating the traversal of civilian vehicles.
The wait extended for more than seven hours for hundreds of stranded vehicles, while some vehicles became stuck due to running out of fuel or having dead batteries, and the price of a liter of gasoline at the nearest location to the congestion point at the Athria checkpoint was 100,000 Syrian pounds that night (6 USD).
Some of those stranded told the correspondent that they reached Athria after 21 hours of walking from their homes in Aleppo.
The moment of liberation from the Athria checkpoint marked a turning point in the exit journey, reaching al-Saan and then to Salamiya, where injured civilians and military personnel were evacuated, heading towards Homs, the coastal area, and Damascus.
A return after displacement
Although the people of Aleppo have previously experienced displacement and leaving their city, the scenario of exit in this manner was unexpected, in terms of the rapid battlefield transformations within hours and the surprise of the scene’s reversal without battles.
There are no precise statistics on the number of people who left the city of Aleppo after the factions entered, and officials in the regime’s government spoke about preparing temporary reception and shelter centers in Homs and Tartus.
On December 22, 2016, the last convoy of those besieged in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo left, fully emptying these neighborhoods of their residents, returning them under the control of the Syrian regime after more than four years of armed opposition control.
At that time, the evacuation of residents from the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo as a result of the agreement made with the Russians and Iranians constituted the largest organized forced displacement in Syria since 2011, and was a blow to the armed opposition factions in Aleppo and northern Syria in general, which failed to break the siege on the besieged neighborhoods.
A week ago, since the factions entered the neighborhoods of Aleppo, the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) took over the city’s affairs and administration, and began to reactivate service institutions, alongside inviting old staff to return to work.
They also announced the activation of police and traffic departments, published numbers for reporting complaints, and stated that they had deployed personnel to protect state institutions and public facilities.
The factions’ control over Aleppo opened the door for the return of displaced residents to the city, as life gradually returned to normal, with a rise in commodity prices, and anticipation especially with the continued “Deterrence of Aggression” in gaining new areas.