At a police station in central Damascus, 30 HTS fighters have replaced the 100 officers who fled following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. “They regularly send us reinforcements to help, but we are still severely short-staffed,” said station chief Abu Riad.
Crime is on the rise as people try to take advantage of the general lawlessness.
Raed Sayed Ali was a police officer in Damascus before he defected in 2011 to join the rebels in their Idlib stronghold. “We want security, freedom, and we don’t want authoritarian rule. We want decent salaries so we do not have to steal or take bribes to offer a good life to our families,” he said.
A unit of police officers stops to check on a popular mall with a selection of cafes that evening. “We feel safe. Look, it’s midnight now… We are outside walking and everything is fine,” said a woman.
“In order to assure control of Damascus, the new leadership knows it needs to train and recruit a maximum amount of policemen – the first batch of officers is just coming out of the academy,” FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Damascus James André said.
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