From Akkar to Saida, scenes of jubilation in Lebanon after the fall of the Assad regime

From the early hours of Sunday, in the middle of the night, scenes of jubilation could be observed in Lebanon, even before the announcement by the Syrian rebels of the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Hundreds of Lebanese and Syrians took to the streets of Tripoli and Akkar in northern Lebanon, according to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent, as soon as the capture of Homs, located about twenty kilometers from the border of northern Lebanon, was announced. The celebrations continued during the day, with the rapid advance on Damascus and the appearance on Syrian state television of the leader of the jihadist rebels, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who reported the fall of the "tyrant" Assad.

In Tripoli's al-Nour Square, children are carried by their parents, while others dance the traditional dabkeh to the sound of drums. Flags of the Syrian revolution and some Lebanese ones fly in the wind, to the rhythm of horns.

Baath office vandalized in North Lebanon

“Allahu Akbar,” God is great, chant some, while others sing the fall of the “fallen regime” and revolutionary anthems. Between those present and among the lines of cars, pastries, in large boxes, are offered to passers-by. On the square, Khaled Abdel Majid, who fled Tell Kalakh near the border with Lebanon with his family in 2012, confided to L'Orient-Le Jour: “All Syrians want to return home, as soon as possible, to a liberated country, to live in safety, peace and dignity.”

Hundreds of others gathered in several villages in Akkar, including Halba, Bebnine, Bireh and Burj al-Arab. In Halba, young people forced their way into the local office of the Syrian Baath Party, and threw furniture and documents into the street.

In the south, convoys of cars drove through the streets of Saida to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime, according to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent, according to whom Elia Square occasionally sees small groups continuing their festivities.

In Chouf, dozens of people gathered around the tomb of Kamal Joumblatt, Druze leader and founder of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), assassinated in 1977, to sing for the end of the Syrian regime.

And in Beirut, celebratory gunfire was heard intermittently throughout the day, while calls for gatherings in different neighborhoods, including Tarik Jdideh and Sassine Square in Achrafieh, were made.