It’s actually mind numbing seeing people in the west cheer on HTS while people back home are terrified about what the future holds.

Seeing more freed prisoners is a beautiful sight that brought tears to my eyes. But the feeling is compounded with fear and anxiety. mercenaries (mostly non Syrian) made their way through Hama overnight. They announced on social media that they’re heading to Homs next, stating “your time has come” in an online post encouraging people to join them.

Syria is a very diverse country. But Homs in particular is veryyyy diverse. Many minorities live in Homs. The population has many ethnoreligious communities. Many Druze, Shia, Alawi’i, and Sunni live in Homs. Wadi Al Nasara, which means “valley of Christians” is where my family is from which is also in Homs. It has a large population of indigenous Syriac and orthodox Christians.

Hundreds of thousands of people have already fled their homes out of fear. The conditions were already really bad. Over 7 million Syrians are displaced within the country. At least 70% of the country is in need of humanitarian aid. Over 90% of the population lives below the poverty line.

This is not good.