'I slept through them': Damascus residents react to US-led strikes

When explosions rocked Damascus just after 4am local time on Saturday, few people went down to the streets. In a city so accustomed to war, lights were switched on – not off. And so were TVs. The US-led strike had been widely anticipated in the Syrian capital; its likely targets so well flagged that not many seemed to fear its consequences.

“I slept through them,” said Khalil Abu Hamza, a resident who lived near the scene of one attack. “This was a pantomime anyway.”

Closer to the centre of Syria’s capital, 31-year-old Taha said a familiar series of thumps in the middle distance alerted him to the air raid just before 4:30am.

“I watched the news with my wife till 5:30,” he said. “No one went down from their homes. My mother who lives across the street from us wasn’t even bothered. Keep in mind, we are used to this. The Syrian flag has been raised in Umayyad Square as a sign of defiance.”

By mid-morning in the Malki neighbourhood, a stronghold of the Assad regime, streets were bustling and the atmosphere calm, residents said.

“People are out and about today,” said Samia, 34. “The streets are full and so is the mall. Old ladies are cleaning their carpets on the balcony. I don’t know why it is being blown out of proportion; we’ve been going through war for the past seven years. It’s just like any other day. We’ve grown a thick skin.”

Nearby, a 58-year-old woman who refused to give her name said the tension of the past few days had quickly given way to relief when the sounds of the incoming missiles were replaced by silence. Life goes on normally today, she said. “I feel like it was done to save face. People are out on the streets today, shopping and buying groceries, this didn’t faze us.”

Abu Haidar, 62, a supporter of the Syrian leader, said he had been waiting for the attack since Donald Trump’s belligerent tweet on Wednesday telling Russia – Syria’s ally – to “get ready” for incoming US missiles.

“When we heard the explosions, we knew it was the Americans. People didn’t go down to shelters, didn’t scream, didn’t hide. We were out on the roofs of our buildings. The Damascus sky was lit up. But we knew this was all a front.”

In a capital of divided loyalties, not everyone was pleased with the short sharp blitz, which targeted a scientific research base in western Damascus, as well as two other sites near Homs. Some who oppose the Assad regime were hoping for more than a carefully choreographed attack causing only contained damage.

“We had high hopes, said Hussam, 40, a supporter of the anti-Assad opposition. “Unfortunately the only thing reverberating among us is disappointment. It wasn’t as intense as they’re making it sound. We have no more faith in the international community. Trump has been saying he will bomb for days now, like he’s warning Bashar ahead of time to be safe. If I am coming to murder someone, will I tell him beforehand? It’s ridiculous, it’s nonsense. They are laughing at us.”

In Umayyad Square in central Damascus, residents waved Syrian flags and drove around honking horns. Soldiers in full combat uniform stood by relaxed, witnesses said. There were also small-scale celebrations in the Old City, and near the Sayyidah Zaynab shrine – a focal point for pro-Assad militias, especially Hezbollah.

Checkpoints pepper a city still clearly embroiled in insurgency. Though this was the first US air blitz to hit Damascus, Israel has sent its jets to hit targets in Syria more than 100 times, and many of those strikes have been in or around the city.

In Douma, the suburb on the outskirts of Damascus that was the scene of the chemical attack that killed at least 42 people and led to the strikes, there was little reaction on Saturday. There, as in capital itself, people were fearful about putting their name to their thoughts. Those who have remained – most were exiled to northern Syria after the opposition group defending it surrendered hours after the chemical strike – say they need to live in silence now. “I can’t talk anymore,” said a Douma resident who had spoken to the Guardian and Observer in the past two years. “Please don’t use my name anymore.”

An inspection team from the international chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), arrived in Douma on Saturday to begin an investigation into the attack, which left more than 500 more impaired, according to reports passed to the World Health Organization.

In pro-government areas of Damascus, there is little scepticism about the Syrian and Russian claims that the attack was either staged or didn’t happen at all. In anti-Assad households, there are growing fears that investigators will never get to the truth.

Zaher al-Sakat, a former Syrian army brigadier, who helped lead the country’s chemical weapons capabilities until he deserted in 2013 said: “The regime will always find someone to defend their crimes. The Russians say their experts went in and found nothing to do with chemicals. While Lavrov the following day said chemicals were found. What is this nonsense?

“How can people say he [Assad] will not benefit by using the chemical weapons? The evidence is the displacement of the people of Douma. The regime couldn’t advance, the media spokesperson of the national guard said on TV ‘you will see how they will fall like flies’. Chlorine was indeed used, there were missiles carrying sarin. We have all the documents and proof of his heinous crime.

“Now the Russians are in charge of the scene, we are sure they will manipulate the evidence. We have over 50 corpses buried in an undisclosed location that are solid proof of the attack. We will not say where because the regime will be quick to destroy the evidence.”

“Chlorine can be mixed with other chemicals. Syandric was mixed with chlorine in Douma. It affects the blood, redness of eyes, difficulty breathing. The Assad regime used the attack to kill the spirits of the people. It was a psychological attack to get people to give up.”