‘I recorded my will’: Indonesian students in Damascus recount moments around Assad’s historic fall

JAKARTA: As news lingered on a nerve-wracking Saturday evening that rebel forces were preparing to enter the Syrian capital Damascus, residents shuttered their doors and windows. Among them were hundreds of Indonesian citizens.

According to the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Damascus, there are about 1,162 Indonesian citizens living in Syria, with most of them residing in Damascus, where there are around 200 Indonesian undergraduates studying. One of them is Tubagus Muhammad. 

“Suddenly, the internet connection was disrupted that night, so we didn’t know what was happening outside,” the 22-year-old Indonesian undergraduate told CNA. 

Tubagus then went to sleep in his dormitory in the Rukn al-Din district, located about 10 minutes away from former President Bashar Al-Assad’s palace. At about 2am in the morning on Sunday (Dec 8), he woke up to the sound of gunshots.

“There were sounds of gunfire everywhere. I thought there was a shooting. That was probably the scariest night for me,” said the student at Bilad al-Sham University.

“I even recorded a video of my will, in fear that it might be one of my last nights,” he added. 

However, when the internet connection was restored at about 5am, Tubagus realised that the sounds he heard were not gunfire, but rather celebratory shots fired in the air. 

“They were actually celebrating, celebrating the fact that the regime has fallen,” Tubagus recounted to CNA.

On Sunday, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham opposition forces led by Abu Mohammed al-Golani succeeded in continuing their advance against the Syrian government, culminating in the seizure of Damascus. This forced Assad to flee the country and he has reportedly been granted asylum in Russia. 

The fall of Assad marked the beginning of the end of Syria’s 13-year conflict which claimed over 580,000 lives and displaced 12 million others. 

As rebels declared the end of the Assad rule on Sunday, residents streamed into the streets celebrating their freedom from the regime’s grip. 

The joyous atmosphere was also felt by Wahyudi, another Indonesian undergraduate in Damascus. Following morning prayers that day, residents in Damascus left their houses chanting the Islamic “takbir”, he said. 

“The atmosphere was more festive than during Eid. It wasn’t scary at all. The sound of gunfire could be heard as a form of celebration,” Wahyudi told CNA.