As a red sun dropped to the desert horizon, children shouted and splashed in the waters of the Euphrates River and their families picnicked at tables in the shallows.
Carefree evenings have returned for many in Syria, but for the people of Deir al-Zour, a desert city in the east near the border with Iraq, the peace is still awaited.
“Deir al-Zour gave a lot of people and a lot of blood,” said Ali Muhammad al-Hilou, 45, who lives beside the ruined Othman bin Affan mosque, where some of the first protests began against the former dictator Bashar al-Assad in the 2011 uprising. “The government should look after Deir al-Zour more.”
This city, the surrounding province, and its people, veer between pride for being among the first to stand up to the Assad regime and resentment at the neglect shown by its successor, the government now led by the rebel leader turned president, Ahmed al-Shara.
Deir al-Zour has the sad notoriety of being the most heavily damaged city in all the country, according to United Nations Habitat, the urban development organization. It was battered through years of shelling and bombing by the regime in a 13-year civil war against it opponents and later, the terror group Islamic State, or ISIS.
The post Still Divided, a Syrian City Ruined in War Edges Back to Life appeared first on New York Times.
