By Selen Temizer
IDLIB, Syria (AA) – Life has gradually begun to return to normal at a small vegetable market in northern Syria days after regime airstrikes killed dozens and caused significant property damage in the area.
War-weary merchants are now putting their goods back on display at the market, which is located in the city of Maarrat al-Numan in Idlib province.
Still, fear is plainly visible in their eyes whenever they hear the sound of a plane overhead.
At least 47 people were killed — and scores injured — when regime warplanes attacked the market last week.
“I lost my brother in the attack,” Khaled Ghareb, a fish seller, told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday. “Nevertheless, I’ve returned to the market to rebuild my shop and resume selling my fish.”
Ghareb went on to describe Bashar al-Assad as a “criminal” and “blood-sucker”.
“The revolution will continue to the end,” a determined Ghareb said.
Vegetable seller Belal Qazmuz, for his part, said residents of the area would never give in to fear.
“We will continue to defy the regime until victory,” he told Anadolu Agency.
According to opposition sources, more than 120 civilians were killed last week in a series of attacks on crowded markets in northern Syria.
Since March 2011, the Syrian opposition has demanded an end to the four-decade-long rule of the Assad family. The regime, however, has reacted to these demands with unexpected ferocity, pushing the country into a vicious civil war.
