Syrian areas loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were quiet and calm on the evening of Wednesday, June 5, the same as they have been on any other evening for the past 27 months that this violent war that plagues the country has gone on.
But, in contrast, Beirut’s southern suburb, the main stronghold of Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah, was the scene of unusual occurrences: streets filled with car convoys and thousands of jubilant young men firing their weapons in the air, as sweets were distributed to passersby on the roads. The occasion for this celebration? The fall of the Syrian city of Qusair!