Enab Baladi – Omar Alaa Eldin

“When I saw my destroyed house in al-Qaboun for the first time, I entered a state of shock. What do we do? God is our helper,” the extent of the destruction prevents one from thinking only about oneself, as there are hundreds or thousands of families who do not know where their homes are.

Thus began Qusay Abd al-Bari, a journalist activist from the al-Qaboun neighborhood, recounting his story of returning to his home in al-Qaboun neighborhood and the horror of what he witnessed. He explained to Enab Baladi that he is currently staying at his sister’s house in Damascus due to the total destruction of his own home.

Qusay has been a revolutionary activist and journalist since the age of 15, working from inside the al-Qaboun neighborhood in northeastern Damascus, continuing his work from 2013 until 2017.

His family was displaced by the former regime’s forces on May 14, 2017, to the city of Idlib, where they settled for three years before moving to Istanbul, Turkey, and working in the written press.

I may have managed to recognize my house by a building that was used by the regime’s snipers and remained intact, but there are families whose properties have been completely wiped off the face of the earth, so they do not know where they are.

Qusay Abd al-Bari, Journalist activist

Returning to square one

Like many of the residents of al-Qaboun, Qusay was shocked by the unprecedented destruction he saw in the neighborhood, despite being aware of the demolitions carried out by the regime after their displacement. According to him, the Assad regime’s forces detonated the area stretching from the entrance of al-Qaboun to the al-Muhannad hall, extending a kilometer deep.

This area was controlled by the former regime’s forces in 2013. After the displacement of Qusay and his family in 2017, the regime completely destroyed this area, which contained five buildings.

Qusay’s house, located at the entrance of al-Qaboun, was destroyed by the former Syrian regime’s actions in 2017 – February 15, 2025 (Enab Baladi – Qusay Abd al-Bari)

Qusay expressed his mixed feelings when he saw his family’s house in this condition, saying, “Although I was fully aware of what was happening in al-Qaboun during the revolution, seeing the destruction in al-Qaboun with my own eyes prevents an individual from thinking about oneself or their house, as there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of families unable to identify where their previous homes were located.”

He continued, “I may have been able to recognize my house by a building used by the regime’s snipers that remained intact, but there are families whose properties have been completely wiped off the face of the earth so they do not know where they are.”

According to the activist, between 550 to 700 families from al-Qaboun cannot return from their displaced locations in Idlib due to the complete destruction of their homes, in addition to the neighborhood residents who have sought refuge in neighboring countries like Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. Qusay noted that 80% of the buildings in al-Qaboun are completely destroyed.

Residents of al-Qaboun and other surrounding areas see themselves in a stage of returning to square one, particularly since the reconstruction process is very expensive. Furthermore, the systematic destruction taking place in residential areas and the near-total disappearance of their landmarks complicates matters even further.

Challenges of reconstruction

Qusay confirmed that he is currently unable to rebuild his house, especially since the process of debris removal has become very costly. He finds it unreasonable to remove the debris from just his property, given that the neighborhood’s infrastructure is completely destroyed.

Regarding the governmental promises to improve the situation in al-Qaboun, Qusay stated that the Governor of Damascus, Muhammad Maher Marwan, during his recent visit to the neighborhood, confirmed that al-Qaboun, Tishrin, Jobar, and other heavily destroyed neighborhoods would be prioritized for reconstruction.

On January 19, the Governor of Damascus visited al-Qaboun and met with the neighborhood’s residents.

According to the media office of the Damascus Governorate, Marwan emphasized that “efforts are ongoing to provide basic services and enhance stability in the area, focusing on facilitating the return of residents to their homes and preparing a suitable environment for a decent life.”

On January 23, the Damascus Governorate, in collaboration with its specialized directorates and the civil defense, began debris removal operations from the streets of al-Qaboun to prepare for any reconstruction efforts, as part of the “We Have Returned, O Damascus” campaign.

Mechanisms of the Damascus Governorate, in cooperation with the Syria Civil Defence, removing debris in al-Qaboun, east of Damascus – January 23, 2025 (Damascus Governorate)

Thousands of destroyed buildings

Many have questioned the fate of the residents of the Syrian refugee camps, whose number has reached approximately two million, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In a report on February 13, the office stated that more than 825,000 displaced Syrians have returned to their areas since December 2024.

The UN office described the movement out of the camps as “limited,” noting that about 80,000 people left the camps in northwestern Syria, while only 300 people departed from the al-Arisha camp in eastern Syria.

On January 2, the Minister of Local Administration in the interim government of Damascus, Muhammad Muslim, stated to the Syrian news agency (SANA) that there has been a registration of significant destruction across all Syrian provinces, whether in cities, villages, or rural areas, based on aerial assessments of several destroyed areas.

The Ministry of Local Administration announced its intention to establish a clear database regarding the extent of the damage and to develop plans and goals that align with it for the upcoming phase, to ensure a safe return for the displaced.

On March 16, 2019, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) released an atlas revealing the extent of the damage resulting from military actions in Syria based on satellite imagery analysis, showing maps indicating the distribution and intensity of destruction in 16 Syrian cities and regions, including areas surrounding the capital and both eastern and western Ghouta.

Buildings almost erased due to the practices of the former regime in the al-Qaboun neighborhood of Damascus – February 15, 2025 (Enab Baladi – Qusay Abd al-Bari)

Destruction around Damascus and Ghouta

The distribution of destruction in the areas surrounding the capital Damascus, as translated by Enab Baladi from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research:

• In the Eastern Ghouta region, the number of buildings completely destroyed reached 9,353, in addition to 13,661 buildings severely damaged and 11,122 buildings partially damaged, making the total number of affected buildings 34,136.
• In the Yarmouk camp and the al-Hajar al-Aswad area, south of Damascus, there were 2,109 buildings completely destroyed, 1,765 severely damaged, and 1,615 partially damaged, bringing the total number of affected buildings to 5,489.
• In the town of Zabadani in the Damascus countryside, there are 659 buildings completely destroyed, 1,251 severely damaged, and 1,454 partially damaged, making the total number of affected buildings 3,364.

Al-Qaboun in brief

The al-Qaboun neighborhood of Damascus was among the first neighborhoods to participate in the Syrian revolution that began on March 15, 2011. After the implementation of the al-Qaboun massacre, in which 90 people were killed, the regime imposed a complete siege on the neighborhood from 2012 until 2017.

The opposition factions seized control of al-Qaboun in 2012, with the number of fighters reaching 4,000, distributed among the Army of Islam, Ahrar al-Sham, and Faylaq al-Rahman factions.

A destroyed tank of Assad’s forces on the front line of al-Qaboun, east of Damascus – April 18, 2017 (Faylaq al-Rahman)

The fighting between the regime and the opposition factions continued until 2014, during which they reached a truce that lasted until 2017, alongside the neighboring neighborhoods of Tishrin and Barzeh.

The ceasefire agreement made by the opposition factions with the regime was marked by many violations by the regime forces, especially artillery and missile shelling, in addition to sniper attacks and targeting civilians.

On May 14, 2017, the first batch of opposition fighters from al-Qaboun was evacuated to Idlib, similar to what happened in many areas controlled by factions around Damascus and its countryside, such as Zabadani, Madaya, Darayya, Douma, and Wadi Barada.

This is only in al-Qaboun

Qusay currently works in the media office of al-Qaboun and has provided information about the extent of the destruction in his neighborhood of Damascus. However, at the end of his conversation with Enab Baladi, he said something laden with much grief that all Syrian cities have carried in the name of the Syrian revolution, “What I have told you is only about al-Qaboun, I have not told you anything about Tishrin neighborhood and its horrors.”