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Bomb Shatters Sense of Normalcy: Report From Damascus

Syrians have learned to anticipate bad things, writes Layla M. for Al-Monitor. A massive explosion hit the regime’s military headquarters last month, shattering a short-lived sense of normalcy and bringing back to Damascus a sense of anxiety and dread. 
Firefighters stand among debris after bombs exploded in a school building in Damascus September 25, 2012 in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Bombs planted by rebels exploded at the school building occupied by security forces and pro-government militias in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday, activists and rebels said.   REUTERS/SANA (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEE

I arrived to a different Damascus from the one I had seen a month ago. The distant sound of gunfire and shelling had faded, but locals assured me that clashes between opposition and regime forces continued, albeit sporadically, in the city’s outlying suburbs. There were fewer checkpoints in downtown Damascus, although the presence of the regime’s armed, plainclothed security officers and Shabiha militiamen was still prevalent. 

Compared with the urban warfare that occurred here after the assassination of some of the regime’s top officials in July, and the street-to-street battles that are currently tearing Aleppo apart, the regime maintained the outward appearance of control in Damascus. They had won the battle of Damascus after having battered many opposition strongholds into submission throughout the month of August. But there was foreboding among the citizens. 

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