Jubilant crowds waved Syrian revolutionary flags amid celebratory gunfire as Raqqa residents tore down symbols and statues of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who had controlled the city since 2017.
The scenes in the city on the north bank of the Euphrates River, about 160km east of Aleppo, were remarkably similar to the joyful gatherings that spread across Syria after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Hours after Syrian government forces took over the city, residents expressed hope that, for the first time since the civil war began, Syria might soon be unified.
“We want a united Syria,” Mohamed Al Ahmad, 51 told The National. The carpenter had joined friends in Al Naim Square, central Raqqa, to celebrate.
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