After Assad’s ouster, Syrians return to homes devastated by years of civil war

Syrian families return to war-torn homes, hoping for reconstruction and a brighter future after Assad's ousting.

Now, cushions and plants brighten the wreckage that he is determined to call home again.

“As soon as we found out that... the regime was gone and that people were coming back... we sorted our things” and packed the car, said Kafozi, 74, standing in the wreckage of his home in a former rebel bastion near the capital.

“We came back in the hope that our home would be different to this.”

Plastic sheeting covers windows in what remains of the home where he and his family are living with no electricity, running water or even a proper bathroom, in the town of Hammuriyeh.

Syria’s war began in 2011 when Assad unleashed a crackdown on democracy protests, prompting soldiers to defect from the army and civilians to take up weapons.

When Eastern Ghouta, where Hammuriyeh is located, fell out of Assad’s control, the government imposed a siege and launched a ferocious air and ground assault. Assad’s forces were accused of conducting chemical attacks on rebel areas of Eastern Ghouta.

In 2018, tens of thousands of fighters and civilians were bussed to Opposition-held northwest Syria under evacuation deals brokered by Assad backer Russia. Among those who left the area at the time were Mr. Kafozi and his family. His granddaughter Baraa, now eight, “was an infant in our arms” when they left, he said.