bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Crowds of visitors wander brilliantly lit shopping aisles, stunned by the abundance of goods on offer in the heart of the former rebel stronghold in northwest Syria.
Dana, near Sarmada in Idlib province, is less than 40 kilometres east of the country’s second city Aleppo, but was cut off from the rest of the country until the fall of president Bashar al-Assad less than a week ago.
It is a major shopping centre because of its proximity to the border with Turkey.
People pay in Turkish lira or in US dollars, and all the big brands are available, brought in from Syria’s powerful neighbour.
Everything from clothes to electrical goods to furniture is on display in main street stores and four shopping malls with gleaming windows.
“It’s been a long time since I have seen so many things,” said 54-year-old mother Aisha Darkalt, visiting from Aleppo with her family.
“The kids, they don’t know where to look … It’s hard to imagine all this was so close. We never left Aleppo any more.”
Aleppo, the first city captured by the rebels in their lightning offensive that ended decades of rule by the Assad clan, still has just three hours of electricity a day.
But bright lights, pink fabric flowers and flashy garlands adorn the shopping malls of nearby Dana after 13 years of deprivation in the rest of the country, which has been ravaged by a civil war that broke out in 2011.
The Sarmada region was relatively well off while Aleppo and much of the rest of Syria was engulfed in conflict and poverty under Assad rule, squeezed for taxes and rife with corruption.

Unlike Idlib, the rebel “capital” that was subject to Russian bombardment until the start of the month, Sarmada was generally spared because it is so close to neighbouring Turkey.
In 2021, the Carnegie Middle East Center said the region’s prosperity dated to the outbreak of the war in 2011 and the rupture between Damascus and Ankara, when Assad stopped the importation of goods from Turkey.
Local businessmen were well used to cross-border dealings, and benefited from an influx of displaced people into an area where just 15,000 inhabitants lived previously.
A flourishing commercial hub was born, one that the Islamists of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group was careful not to oppose.
But it still remained out of bounds to the rest of the country – until now. In recent days, people have been flocking to the area to shop, arriving from Aleppo, Hama, Homs and even the capital Damascus.
Maher al-Ahmad, 42, runs a store selling household goods and carpets.
“People are surprised,” he said amid a shopping frenzy worthy of sales time at department stores in the West.
“They thought we lived in a dangerous place full of criminals, and then they come here! We have electricity, we have everything they need.”
Imad Fares, 40, has lived in Dana for the past three years after leaving his hometown of Maaret al-Numan, which was devastated by the conflict.

“The people from Aleppo look miserable and tired. You can tell from their faces that they lived in a prison,” he said.
“They’re shocked at how we live here.”
It is the beginning of a return to normal.
Ahmad loaded two flat-screen televisions and toys he had bought into the boot of his ancient car.
“You can find anything,” the 42-year-old said.
“But the most important thing is knowing you can get back home without being robbed by Assad’s people on the way.”
His vehicle was a stark contrast to the shiny new cars and SUVs with Idlib plates that popped up in the streets of Aleppo this week.
Because bringing cars in from Turkey was banned, Syrians often pushed their own ageing vehicles to the limit.
A doctor from Aleppo said he got his car in 2013, and 11 years later it was still considered new.
“A week ago I got US$50,000 for it,” he said. “But now you can buy a new one in Sarmada, it wouldn’t be worth more than US$8,000.”
He looked on at friends who had come to do their shopping in the former rebel bastion, where prices were up to three times lower than in the city.
“We just didn’t understand that we were the unfortunate ones,” he laughed.


Nations work to build ties with Syria’s new rulers a week after Assad fled

Life of Syria’s Assad revealed in private photos found in abandoned mansions

Syria rebel leader meets with visiting UN envoy

UK says it will provide US$63 million in humanitarian aid for ‘most vulnerable’ Syrians

Middle East

Syrians on a shopping spree in former rebel stronghold

A youth holds a Syrian independence-era flag inside a shopping mall in the town of al-Dana, near Sarmada, in the northern Syrian province of Idlib, on Friday. Photo: AFP

People at a shopping centre in the town of al-Dana, Idlib province, Syria. Photo: AFP

A major rally takes place in Aleppo on ‘Victory Friday’ to celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Photo: dpa

Mass rallies across Syria celebrate fall of Assad: ‘Friday of victory’

People gather with independence-era Syrian flags to celebrate the fall of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad at the Umayyad Square in central Damascus on Friday. Photo: AFP

Fireworks erupting above people celebrating the ousting of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad at Umayyad Square in Damascus on Friday. Photo: AFP

A man waves a flare during a celebratory demonstration following the first Friday prayers since Bashar al-Assad’s ousting in Damascus. Photo: AP

Syrians celebrate in the streets of Damascus after the first Friday prayers since Bashar al-Assad’s ousting. Photo: AP

Syria’s rebel leader vows to dissolve Assad security forces, close prisons

A woman holding a rifle borrowed from a Syrian opposition fighter poses for a picture, next to a government forces tank in Damascus, Syria. Photo: AP

The Russian naval base at Tartus in western Syria on December 5 and (bottom) the same location after ships departed on December 10. Photo: Photo Maxar Technologies via AFP

Israeli soldiers operating in a location given as Golan Heights, in a picture released on December 11, 2024. Photo: Israel Defence Forces via Reuters

Why rebel capture of Syria’s Hama, a city with a brutal history, matters

A billboard bearing a picture of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and a national flag that were torn by anti-government fighters in the northern city of Aleppo. Photo: AFP

A Syrian anti-government fighter shoots at a large banner bearing a picture of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, in Hama. Photo: AFP

Residents take to the streets of Hama to welcome anti-government fighters. Photo: AFP

Syrian anti-government fighters cheer as they ride a military vehicle through the streets of Hama. Photo: AFP

A multi-barrel rocket launcher fires against regime forces in the northern outskirts of Hama on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Asma al-Assad, Syria’s London-born first lady not welcome in UK

A picture of Asma, wife of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, at one of the rooms in Presidential Palace after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Photo: Reuters

Queen Elizabeth receives Asma al-Assad and her husband, then Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad, on December 17, 2002, at Buckingham Palace, in London on their first visit to Britain. Photo: Pool/AFP

Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Photo: Reuters

Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma arrive for a dinner hosted by Britain’s Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, at Lancaster house in central London in December 2002. Photo: AFP/Pool

Malaysia’s Syrian refugees find Assad’s fall bittersweet: ‘now we know’

Syrian refugees arrive in Malaysia in 2016. Photo: AFP

A man waves the independence-era Syrian flag at Damascus’ central Umayyad Square on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Abu Adnan al-Seirawan and his younger brother Ahmed (centre) in front of their Damascus Royal Family restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Handout

Mohammad Ibrahiem Abozeed at his Berkat Madinah supermarket in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Hadi Azmi

Syrians carry their belongings as they cross into Syria from Turkey on Wednesday. Photo: AP

News

World

Dana in Idlib province was cut off from the rest of the country until the fall of the Assad regime despite its proximity to Aleppo


Dana in Idlib province was cut off from the rest of the country until the fall of the Assad regime despite its proximity to Aleppo.


Syrian conflict

War and conflict

Icons and Influencers