Syrians hail siege's end but await full victory

Stuck inside his native Deir Ezzor, Mahmoud Mashhour could hardly hide his impatience Wednesday for Syria’s army to fully recapture the city so he can reunite with his family on the outside.

Mashhour, 36, lives in a western district of the city that was under a years-long siege by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

Hours after Syrian troops and military vehicles broke through that encirclement on Tuesday, Mashhour said he was eager for the route to be safe for civilians.

“The most important thing now is breaking the siege, so that those who left the city can come back safely and everything can go back to the way it was,” Mashhour said. 

“There are people outside of the city, and we miss them,” the bearded teacher said, wearing a sky-blue shirt and gesturing emotionally.

His wife and children fled Deir Ezzor more than a year ago to the city of Hasakeh further north, and Mahmoud has not seen them since. 

“My wife and kids are on the outside. God willing, my loved ones will return,” Mashhour said. 

Since 2014, IS has held swathes of Deir Ezzor province and about 60 percent of the provincial capital by the same name. 

Syria’s government remained in control of the strategic military airport and several neighbourhoods in the city home to about 100,000 people, whom IS put under crippling siege.

The jihadists tightened that siege earlier this year by separating the government-held enclave in the city’s west into two pockets. 

Syrian army troops broke into the northern section on Tuesday, opening a route via the Brigade 137 base on Deir Ezzor’s western edge.

– ‘Joy is all around’ –

On Wednesday, de-miners were still working to clear explosives from that route so civilians could cross safely and for long-awaited food and medicine to brought in. 

Residents were ecstatic, with men, women and children pouring into the main thoroughfare to show their support.

Some of them chanted “Long live the army,” while carrying the two-star flag of Syria’s government in Damascus.

Others blasted upbeat nationalistic tunes on megaphones. 

“Everyone’s mood’s changed. Joy is all around Deir Ezzor. We’re happy about this victory,” said Ahmad, a 20-year-old university student. 

With the army’s progress, he said he hoped to resume his studies as soon as possible. 

“It’s no secret that we want to eat and be happy, and that we hope stability returns to all of Syria and not just our city,” Ahmad said. 

Syrian government shelling on Wednesday pounded Al-Baghiliya, an IS-held suburb of the city’s north, according to a local journalist contributing to AFP.

The steady sound of air strikes could be heard throughout the city.

IS’s siege on the city had prompted a devastating lack of food and medical supplies for the tens of thousands of civilians in the western part of Deir Ezzor. 

Residents relied primarily on assistance provided by the UN’s World Food Programme that was air-dropped by Syrian and Russian warplanes over the city.

Just 10,000 civilians live in the IS-controlled neighbourhoods, according to estimates by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group. 

Deir Ezzor resident Abdullah, 41, sat outside his perfume shop on Wednesday with a timid smile on this face. 

“The siege really impacted us, we lacked everything. We used to make do with whatever was available,” he said.

“We Deir Ezzor natives beat this siege, and we will know victory too,” Abdullah added.

Source: AFP