DAMASCUS, June 7 — Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa made his first visit to the southern city of Daraa yesterday, marking a symbolic return to the birthplace of the country’s uprising nearly six months after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
DAMASCUS, June 7 — Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa made his first visit to the southern city of Daraa yesterday, marking a symbolic return to the birthplace of the country’s uprising nearly six months after the ouster of long time ruler Bashar al-Assad.
State media agency SANA broadcast footage of enthusiastic crowds welcoming Sharaa as he waved and greeted residents during the Eid al-Adha holiday.
According to the presidency, Sharaa was accompanied by Interior Minister Anas Khattab during a visit to Daraa’s historic Omari Mosque. Official photos showed the interim leader mingling with locals inside the city.
SANA reported that Sharaa also held meetings with civil and military leaders, along with representatives of the Christian minority community in the region.
Provincial Governor Anwar al-Zoabi hailed the visit as “a significant milestone on the path to national recovery.”
Daraa holds deep symbolic weight in Syria’s modern history. In 2011, the detention of schoolboys who had painted anti-Assad graffiti triggered protests that spiraled into a nationwide uprising. The city later became a stronghold for rebel forces until 2018, when it returned to regime control under a Russia-brokered deal allowing fighters to retain light arms.
On December 6, as Sharaa’s faction — the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — launched a rapid offensive from Syria’s northwest, armed factions from Daraa formed a coalition that played a key role in the fall of Assad two days later.
The province, however, has remained volatile, grappling with unrest and instability in recent years. — AFP
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