Syria's new administration has taken over the country's main international airport after security forces of the deposed Bashar al-Assad government and staff withdrew, grounding flights and stranding passengers. The airport has not been functional since. Now, security members of the rebel alliance in control of Syria have taken over Damascus International Airport, hoping to restore security, a sense of confidence, and the legitimacy needed to restart flights out of the capital, and from one of the country's three international airports. "Damascus international airport is the heart of the city because it is the gateway for international delegations and missions," Omar al-Shami, a security official with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the shock offensive that led to the fall of Assad, told press. "It is the centre and most important (institution) in Damascus. It is the international crossing into Damascus, the passage for Syria to breathe." Elsewhere, life slowly began returning to normalcy in Damascus on Wednesday, with some shops reopening and people strolling through markets. At Bzouriyeh market, one of the famous spice and grain souks in the Syrian capital, shop owners and shoppers mingled among the colourful, old spice shops. "You can see that people's smiles are now different from the past. Thank God, Damascus and Syria as a whole have returned to what they used to be," said Bakri Bakdash, a spice trader who has worked in Bzouriyeh market for 45 years. Banks and government institutions had also reopened. In public squares, some people were still celebrating Meanwhile, thousands of displaced Syrians were returning home from neighbouring countries, as Syria's head of transitional cabinet Mohammed Al-Bashir called on those abroad to return. The Syrian government of al Assad fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days. An estimated 150,000 people have been detained or have gone missing in Syria since 2011 — under Assad's rule, any whiff of dissent could send someone immediately to prison. — Euronews
