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‘We Lived In Fear & Horror’: Deir Ezzor Residents after Daesh Siege

‘We Lived In Fear & Horror’: Deir Ezzor Residents after Daesh Siege
folder_openMiddle East... access_time6 years ago
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Life is slowly resembling some kind of normality for the residents of Deir ez-Zor following years under the yoke of Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri ‘ISIS/ISIL' group] terrorists.

‘We Lived In Fear & Horror’: Deir Ezzor Residents after Daesh Siege

Humanitarian convoys with much needed aid finally poured into the city after the Syrian army's joint offensive with its allied forces broke the blockade.

At least nine heavy trucks carrying food and humanitarian aid reached the city Monday, Syria's official news agency SANA reported. The aid was immediately distributed to families in the eastern and western neighborhoods of Deir ez-Zor and the neighboring village of Jafra. It is among the areas which have suffered from severe food shortages during the Daesh-imposed siege.

Up to 125,000 civilians had been trapped in the oil-rich provincial capital for over two years, with terrorists effectively blocking commercial and humanitarian access to the city. Residents have been mostly reliant on airdropped aid by the UN, Russia and the Syrian government.

"We were suffering from hunger, thirst, and exhaustion... We also suffered from the lack of water and electricity," one local resident told RT. "We're grateful to the army, long live the army! We're grateful not one hundred, but one million percent."

"We lived in fear and horror. Shells were raining down on us. The situation is better now, thank God," local woman added.

"I was collecting herbs [for] the cow in the fields - this is for us to survive. We had no shelter in Jafra and we came here to Joura; you know, the situation was difficult, and we have to survive," another woman told RT.

Meanwhile, the benefits of the humanitarian corridor are already being felt by relieved residents of the city.

"When we were living under the blockade, we had no cucumbers, tomatoes, apples or potatoes. We have all that now, thank God, we get groceries and food boxes from the Red Cross, we're very grateful to them," Abdullah, a local resident told RT.

"When we were living under the blockage, we couldn't go out onto the streets either, because there were shells falling everywhere. I'm very happy that the blockade has been lifted," Abdullah added.

Food prices, previously dictated by the black market, have also begun to return to normal as the food flows in.

"Everything was expensive, a kilo of sugar used to cost 5,200 [Liras], I bought it, and I bought a kilo of tea for 35,000, and we bought the wood for 350 or 400 [Liras per kilo]," a female resident of the city noted. "Thank God, we and Deir ez-Zor are finally released, we are happy after the siege of Daesh, which lasted for 1,040 days - we were really traumatized during this siege."

"The main concern was to get rid of Daesh. This was the most important thing. As soon as we got rid of Daesh, the road was opened, and food and good things came. Thanks to Mr. President for the aids he offered for the sons of Deir ez-Zzor," noted another local.

Last Tuesday, Syrian Army forces made the final push to break the siege of Deir ez-Zor following Russian cruise missile strikes on Daesh. Syrian government forces then broke the Daesh siege of the military airport on September 9. Anti-terrorist operations, however, are continuing in the region.

Source: RT, Edited by website team

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