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Rebel fighters who took control of Aleppo about two weeks ago have promised security and continuity. Prices have skyrocketed, but residents express some hope for the future.
By Muhammad Haj Kadour and Raja Abdulrahim
Muhammad Haj Kadour reported from Aleppo, Syria, and Raja Abdulrahim from Antakya, Turkey
Dec. 11, 2024, 5:04 a.m. ET
The rebels who are now Syria’s de facto rulers have started to make their mark on the country’s government.
They took control of Aleppo just two weeks ago, but already police officers are in the streets sporting new uniforms, administrators are busy in the halls of government and there are posters on lampposts with QR codes directing people to updates on government policy.
Gone are the ubiquitous photos of President Bashar al-Assad, whose visage, like that of his father before him, had dominated the city. The Assad regime controlled the country for decades, then crumbled in a matter of days.
It has been replaced by an array of rebel factions led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group that has tried to gain international legitimacy while also being criticized for its authoritarian tactics. The group, which has controlled most of the northwestern province of Idlib for years, supports a conservative and at times hard-line Sunni Islamist ideology.
With all eyes on the rebels’ plans for the future, Aleppo offers early hints on how the group might approach governance — at least in the immediate future. In a country that has been deeply divided by 13 years of civil war, the group is vowing to maintain security and continuity, aiming to avoid the kind of power vacuum that has followed other Arab revolutions or regime changes.
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