It has been four years since departure and now as the Syrian army has secured al-Quneitra city and eliminated the terrorist presence there, First lieutenant Ahmed al-Hayek from the Internal Security Forces is back to resume his tasks at the detachment which guard the crossing between Quneitra and the occupied Syrian Golan.
Staring at Syria’s national flag flying over the Iron gate, tears filled his eyes as he remembered the attack carried out by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists against the detachment in August 2014 and the ferocious battle erupted between the two sides and ended with the Syrian soldiers evacuating it.
Al-Hayek is experiencing mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, the joy of victory and the profound sadness over the martyrdom of his colleagues and the loss of loved ones.
With a tone of determination and hope in his voice, he stressed that as the Syrian army succeeded in liberating Quneitra of terrorism, it will restore the occupied territory.
“We came here to celebrate liberating Quneitra of terrorism with hope that one day we or our children will return to our towns and villages,” said Mohammed al-Khalil, a father of three children and a worker in al-Zyabiyeh town in Damascus Countryside who was forced to leave his birthplace, al-Batiha town, when he was seven years old due to Israeli occupation authorities’ practices.
Hundreds of displaced families, who left their homes and villages due to terrorist groups’ brutality and oppression, gathered at al-Tahrir Square in the old part of the liberated city of Quneitra to celebrate the hoisting of Syria’s flag.
A number of citizens stressed that Syria will rise again and the Syrian people will rebuild their country, adding that neither the Zionist enemy nor terrorism and states which support it will make us succumb or give up our rights and territory.