The first Syrian domestic flight since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government took off from Damascus and landed in Aleppo this Wednesday (18).
Passengers descended the plane’s stairs smiling and holding the flag adopted by Syria’s new governing body.
See the moment of landing in Aleppo:
Upon landing, pilot Ali Omar Rida stated that the hope is that international routes will be restored soon as well.
One of the passengers, Safa Othman, described the feeling as “joy to be part of a historic moment”, saying she hopes this event will pave the way for all young Syrians to travel and return home.
The flight, which departed from Damascus International Airport this Wednesday (18), shortly after its official reopening, transported several technical operators and members of the youth group “This is our life”.
Understand the conflict in Syria
The Assad family regime was overthrown in Syria on December 8, after 50 years in power, when rebel groups took over the capital Damascus.
President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country and is in Moscow after gaining asylum, according to a source in Russia.
Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.
The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.
Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.
Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”
Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to fight the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.
After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.
Find out who the Syrian rebel leader is and the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad
This content was originally published in Video: Syria’s first domestic flight since the fall of Assad lands in Aleppo on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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