{"id":256776,"date":"2019-09-12T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T10:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=256776"},"modified":"2019-09-13T21:16:58","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T00:16:58","slug":"in-homs-and-palmyra-life-after-the-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/in-homs-and-palmyra-life-after-the-destruction\/","title":{"rendered":"In Homs and Palmyra, life after the destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homs, Syria \u2013 Homs is Syria\u2019s third biggest city, following Aleppo and Damascus. Located some 170 km north of the capital, it has long had crucial economic, geographic and strategic relevance. It sits halfway through the two biggest metropolises, in a predominantly agricultural area near the Orontes River, on the east end of the only natural connection between the country\u2019s heartland and the Mediterranean \u2013 the passageway between mountains known as Homs Gap<\/em> or Gateway to Syria<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a significant trade hub since Antiquity, at which point it was known as Emesa, and it was the birthplace of two Roman emperors<\/a>. An industrial hub prior to the war that began in 2011. Homs is the subject of ANBA\u2019s third special report on Syria.<\/p>\n

The agency visited the city on August 30 with a group of journalists from various countries, at the invitation of Syria\u2019s Ministry of Tourism. Homs was a major stronghold for the armed insurgency against the regime during wartime, especially from 2011 to 2015. Unlike Damascus<\/a>, where the fighting happened mostly in the suburbs, here it took place in the downtown areas, which are currently controlled by the government.<\/p>\n

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The mosque, pre-restoration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of Homs\u2019 landmarks is the Khalid Ibn Al-Walid Mosque (pictured at<\/em> the top of this story<\/em>), built in the early 20th<\/sup> century in honor of the eponymous Arab general who used the be a companion of prophet Muhammad. Also known as Sword of God<\/em>, Khalid Ibn Al-Walid secured the conquest of Syria by Arab Muslims in the Battle of Yarmouk, in 636 AD., with the defeat of the Byzantine army. He died in Homs in 642 AD., and his grave is within the mosque.<\/p>\n

The temple sustained severe damage during recent fighting but has been completely restored. The surrounding Khalidiya neighborhood and other downtown areas in Homs, on the other hand, are still in ruins.<\/p>\n

Homs\u2019 Department of Religious Affairs chief, sheikh Issam Al-Masri, said the place has been a Muslim pilgrimage site since the Middle Age. Although the mosque is relatively new, older buildings have been erected around Khalid Ibn Al-Walid\u2019s mausoleum throughout the centuries, and later demolished to make room for new projects. \u201cThis is where the people of Homs have their celebrations,\u201d said Masri in an interview inside the mosque.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt first there were no weapons, but they began cropping up fast\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He explained that the uprising here began with anti-regime demonstrations in 2011. \u201cAt first there were no weapons, but they began cropping up fast, lots of heavy weaponry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The sheikh recalled the distress and grief as armed groups seized portions of the city. He said he joined talks to persuade these groups to leave Homs. \u201cYes, of course I joined, because I\u2019m chief of the Department of Religious Affairs,\u201d he argued. \u201cSome of them accepted [an agreement] and some didn\u2019t. The ones that accepted are still here; the others got driven out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The body count in Homs was high. The UN estimates some 400,000 were killed in all of Syria during the war. \u201cSomeone got killed or wounded in virtually every family in Syria and in Homs,\u201d said Masri.<\/p>\n

(Story continues after photo gallery)<\/em><\/p>\n