Syrian government forces raise flag in Daraa, birthplace of war

For many Syrians, the war began in the city of Daraa, an agricultural town on the border with Jordan. In March 2011, 15 teenagers were arrested because of spray-painted graffiti on a high school wall.

Images of Arab strongmen like the Egyptian Hosni Mubarak and the Tunisian abductor Ben Ali have prompted someone to scribble on the wall: "It's your turn now. Doctor ", in reference to Assad, the ophthalmologist.

Authorities in the city could not find the author. The boys were detained, beaten, their fingernails removed and tortured for weeks in order to obtain confessions.

While they were captives, their city revolted, protesting every day and calling Assad to put pressure on the city police chief to free him.

Weeks later, they were eventually released, and Dara'a had become a focal point in the government's efforts to quell the unrest. In spring 2011, army tanks invaded the city, rebel forces took a stand to fight the army, and the city and surrounding areas descended into a relentless violence.

Hundreds of thousands of homeless people

More than 300,000 Syrians were rendered homeless by the regime's latest offensive in Daraa, south of Damascus.

What happened at Dara's reflects other advances of the regime since the fall of Aleppo in early 2017. One by one, areas that were agreed to be " De-escalation areas "were attacked by Assad's army and pro-regime militias, backed by Russian air power. Once the rebel groups are weakened, the Russians intervene to stabilize the area.

Syrian engineering units are now sweeping residential neighborhoods to prepare "the entrance of the workshops to rehabilitate the infrastructure and restore basic services to Daraa". "With the entry of the Syrian army into the region, another chapter of terrorist crimes has come to an end," he added.