EXCLUSIVE FROM IL GIORNALE
(Hamoriah) And a river in full. It flows from the ruins, he makes his way through the rubble, sinks into missile craters and granate. It goes back up pushing children into tears, bent under the weight of overflowing backpacks. It drags haggard and emaciated old men clinging to life and crutches. Pushes pregnant women covered in black and fatigue, folded on bellies that are now too heavy. It tows the wounded and sick leaning on wheelbarrows moved by hand in this Gruyère of destruction. It is theexodus. It's escape. It's the end of their war. How many will there be? Five thousand? Eight thousand? Fifteen thousand? Who knows it is good.
We may never find out the true number. There are certainly many. So many. They all come from Hamoryah, the town in eastern Ghouta controlled by the militants of the so-called Rahman Legion. In words it was one of the least ideologically extremist groups within that Islamist and jihadist ocean that had controlled the countryside for six years, the villages and farms of this immense eastern suburb of Damascus inhabited by 400 thousand civilians.
But that image of a secular force structured mainly on a military basis has little to do with reality. In fact, the Rahman Legion has always been a close ally of Tahrir al-Sham, the alliance led by Jabhat Al Nusra which represents the coalition of forces linked to Al Qaeda. And he collaborated and fought with Al Qaeda to maintain control of Hamoryah and the surrounding villages.
It all ended on Wednesday night when the offensive launched by the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian air force and military it hit the village from two sides. It was no small battle. To understand this, just look at the desert that surrounds us.
In the sea of destruction you glimpse the signs of the most recent battle. A battle that is not over yet. Government artillery and mortars continue to fire from all around. And from the lines behind Hamoryah every now and then a few mortar shells rain down 80 which makes the ground tremble and the tide of fugitives jolt. While the fighting is still going on here, they wait on the trucks. At each explosion the women in black clasp their heads in their hands, they hide that of children in the womb. “We didn't notice anything – says Ibrahim, 45 years – on Wednesday evening we went to sleep in the cellar as always, but suddenly in the night we realized that the terrorists were no longer there. Then we learned that the Syrian army was waiting for us so we went out, we gathered courage and set off. Little by little we reached this corridor. Now we wait to be taken to a reception center. We just want some food and some peace. For seven years we saw only war. For seven years we have been victims of terrorists".
It's strange listening to Ibrahim. It is strange to watch this expanse of women covered in black from head to toe waiting for the salvation offered by Bashar Assad's army. Until yesterday they lived under the control of the Rahman Legion and the al-Qaeda coalition, today they are ready to acclaim the Syrian army.
Jallal, 32 years, like the other thousands of desperate people parked in this surreal rear area, he vows to be sincere. “What would you have done in our place? Our homes were in Hamoryah, our land, our animals. When armed groups took control of the area they didn't seem so terrible. Only later did we realize who they were and what they were asking of us". Next to Jallal is Ibrahim, another farmer from Ghouta. He raises his son Saleh to the sky, a seven-month-old puppet wrapped in red pajamas covered in holes and stains.
“Look, look, with the terrorists we didn't even have milk to feed them. Now the army has freed us. Now we are finally free. Believe me no one wanted to stay in Hamoryah. Until today we were prisoners. The militants of the armed groups did not let us escape. We are happy to have managed to reach this corridor. We are happy to be in the hands of the Syrian army”.
