Johnny Daoud, on May 29, 2025, in the lounge of the Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Homs, Syria. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
It was a night of sandstorm that would change the course of a territory and the fate of hundreds of men. On the morning of Sept. 9, 2015, the military airport of Abu Dhahur, the last stronghold of the Assad regime in the Syrian province of Idlib, fell into the hands of the Army of Conquest led by the jihadist group al-Nusra Front. This base on the edge of the desert, about 40 kilometers south of Aleppo, had been under siege for two years. With their grounded Sukhois, unusable, and nearly depleted munitions stocks, the entrenched loyalists had slim chances of survival. They no longer believed in the liberation promises of the army high command. Dysentery spread among those who resorted to drinking stagnant water and eating herbs. Among soldiers, it was said that all there was to do was wait for death. It arrived for most of them via...
It was a night of sandstorm that would change the course of a territory and the fate of hundreds of men. On the morning of Sept. 9, 2015, the military airport of Abu Dhahur, the last stronghold of the Assad regime in the Syrian province of Idlib, fell into the hands of the Army of Conquest led by the jihadist group al-Nusra Front. This base on the edge of the desert, about 40 kilometers south of Aleppo, had been under siege for two years. With their grounded Sukhois, unusable, and nearly depleted munitions stocks, the entrenched loyalists had slim chances of survival. They no longer believed in the liberation promises of the army high command. Dysentery spread among those who resorted to drinking stagnant water and eating herbs. Among soldiers, it was said that all there was to do was wait for death. It arrived for most of them via...
