Samy Akil | سامي عقيل

Just returned from a brief trip to my hometown, Aleppo — my second visit since the fall of the Assad regime. Sharing some humble and necessarily incomplete observations on services, the economy, security, and political life 🇸🇾🧵 1/22

A 1 week farce from the incompetents of Damascus, the the Saad Haddad LARPing Sheiks of Suweyda and the Kurdish occupied gov of Jerusalem

Some accounts to follow for analysis, fact-checking, and general sanity amid Syria's fast-moving crisis and toxic stew of disinformation: @OAjjoub @putintintin1 @aljumhuriya_eng @RamiJarrah @Samy_Akil @ETANA_Syria @ajaltamimi @GregoryPWaters @VeSyriaE @CdricLabrousse

BBC and DW: both on the ground in southern Syria speaking to victims of the sectarian violence. One spoke to Druze civilians, the other to Bedouin refugees. Both speak of horrors. Now watch as many people only share the stories of one side while ignoring those of the other.

Syria: the BBC visited the city of Suwayda and uncovered how government forces committed a massacre at the national hospital. Documenting countless bodies, bullet holes in the building and numerous testimonies of survivors youtu.be/nMFa1xLp_6Y?si…

#Syria: as evidenced by the recent clashes, it's not about only Hijri and the Suwayda Military Council, but all Druze factions fought Government forces or tribal fighters. Laith Balous, the only Druze leader currently opposing Hijri, was disowned by his own group ("Sheikh Karama…

Meanwhile, rather than working to contain the crisis, Sharaa is busy posing for photo-ops with Saudi businessmen.

Al-Sharaa’s praise for tribal mobilization is deeply troubling. Empowering armed actors outside state command risks entrenching militia politics at the expense of institutional reform. Syria needs a professional, accountable security sector—not new loyalist factions.

The free trial has expired. Empty words and staged photo ops might still work for the international community, but not for Syrians. They’re tired of promises and vague statements calling for of “national unity” and “reconciliation” with no follow-through. Actions need to follow,…

The siege of Sweida now leaves us without baby formula, without water, without electricity, without medical care, without medicine, without any of the necessities for survival….. - It reminded me of the “milk communique” that Rima Fleihan, a Sweida native, risked her life with…

Zeina Shahla 💚 - one of the most precious Syrian activists, a journalist, a former detainee of Syrian regime prisons, someone who has been working day by day to build a better Syria - this is the type of people that these thugs attack and insult. More Zeina, less new shabiha.