Syria's Homs looks to rebuild but old wounds remain open

It's a bittersweet return for residents of Homs, which was the site of a brutal years-long siege.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersOld wounds and new energy in Syria's 'capital of the revolution'Francesco Tosto/BBCThe BBC first interviewed Baraa after she fled the Old City of Homs as a child nearly a decade ago"Even now, I look back and wonder how we survived this nightmare," Baraa quietly reflects.

Now 20 years old, the university student joined the joyous celebrations engulfing the streets of Syria last Sunday at the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Her two sisters, Ala and Jana, nod in agreement as we sit, squeezed together on this cold winter's day, on an old lumpy sofa in their humble home in Homs.

Their white-bearded father, Farhan Abdul Ghani, sitting cross legged on the floor, chimes in. "We did not want war. We did not want a forever president who builds monuments to himself."

Nearly a decade ago, we first met in the worst days of that war, waged in their president's name.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2elr8ppd6o

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