'Nearly 100 people attended an iftar, the meal breaking the daytime fast observed by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, set up in the town of Atarib in the western Aleppo countryside that was devastated by the Russian-backed régime offensive earlier this year. A 3 March ceasefire reached between Turkey and Russia has allowed those displaced by the fighting to return home. Régime forces control territory just four kilometres away.
The preparation for the banquet was carried out by volunteers from the civil defence, who also sterilised the area.
The iftar organisers said they wanted to show the continuance of the Syrian revolution. "We chose the town of Atarib for its revolutionary symbolism after the regime tried to advance on it recently," said Abdullah Tuimi, director of the community association which ran the iftar.
Seventy-three thousand people have returned to the city and have started repairing their homes and shops while trying to rebuild their lives.
"We returned after fleeing the bombing to find our homes flattened and destroyed. We wanted to attend this iftar because it would allow us all to meet again after our displacement," said Mustafa al-Shun, a resident of the town who attended the banquet.'
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