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From the Liveblog of Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Banks and shops reopen in Damascus

By AP 10 December 2024, 3:24 pm 2 Edit

A group of Syrians plays cards at a café in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP/Hussein Malla)

Banks and shops are reopening in Damascus after the chaos and confusion of the first two days following the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.

Sadi Ahmad, manager of Syria Gulf Bank, says life is returning to normal. A customer who came to withdraw money from an ATM was surprised to see it functioning.

At the historic Hamadiyeh market, fighters who seized power were still standing guard, but shops have reopened — even an ice cream stand.

Resident Maysoun Al-Qurabi says she was initially “against what happened,” referring to the insurgency, but changed her mind after seeing footage of rebels releasing inmates from the notorious Sednaya prison.

“People are at ease and secure now,” she says. “Before, people were hungry and scared.”