How sports became means of defiance in Syria's besieged al-Waer
Al-Waer district, one of the last rebel-held areas of Homs, has suffered under a regime siege for years, pushing its residents to demonstrate their determination to endure.
![MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-AID Children play soccer at a playground in the northwestern Homs district of Al Waer January 17, 2015. U.N. aid workers have started delivering food to tens of thousands of people trapped in a besieged district of Homs city in Syria following negotiations with warring parties, officials said on Friday. . REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR4LTIK](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2017/01/RTR4LTIK.jpg/RTR4LTIK.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=hzRyRRXh)
The Assi River and orchards surrounding the river separate al-Waer district, a northwestern suburb of Homs, from the city. Despite its proximity to strategic sites such as the military academy, the military hospital and Homs’ refinery, the district was considered a paradise and a summer destination.
But when the Syrian revolution began in 2011, the repression and brutality of the Syrian regime forced many residents from other Homs neighborhoods to flee to al-Waer, at one point bringing together nearly 300,000 displaced people, in addition to the district's 50,000 original residents. Al-Waer became the last opposition-held area of the city.