Inside Aleppo, the first city to fall to Syrian rebels

In Aleppo’s city centre, the huge billboard in the main square with a picture of President Bashar al-Assad, which used to be a feature in any Syrian town and village, was set on fire, then removed.
The red, white and black national flags that decorated the lampposts were also taken away and replaced with what is known as “independence flag”. Down the road, outside the city hall, a giant banner with a photo of Assad was taken down; another had his face riddled with bullets, and for whatever reason was being kept there.
Across Aleppo, residents and the new authorities seemed eager to get rid of anything symbolising the Assads – Bashar had come to power in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez, who ruled for 29 years.
I came to Aleppo for the first time as a student, in 2008, and banners with Assad’s face were prominent in public squares, streets and government buildings; all of them seemed to have been either removed or destroyed.
This was the first major city captured by Islamist-led rebels earlier this month, in their astonishing offensive that overthrew Assad and brought freedom to this country after five decades of oppression – at least for now.
One of the first things they did was to topple a large equestrian statue of the former president’s late brother, Bassel; a statue of Hafez was also vandalised.
Once a bustling commercial hub, Aleppo witnessed, and was ravaged by, intense battles between opposition fighters and government forces during the civil war, which started in 2011 when Assad brutally repressed peaceful protests against him.
Thousands were killed. Tens of thousands more fled.
Now, with Assad gone, many are coming back, from other parts of Syria and even abroad.
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