Almost one month after Islamist rebels toppled the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, volunteers in Aleppo are working to transform the ancient city’s landscape, planting saplings in its streets and alleyways.

Trees and flowers have also been planted in parks, bringing new life to a war-weary city. Officials and locals, including Orthodox Christians as well as Muslims, have all joined in.

The civil war in Syria left its deepest scars in Aleppo. Many parts of it were bombed, much of it by Russian warplanes, which resulted in massive destruction.

Then it became the first city where the rebels drove out Assad’s troops at the end of November.

The city’s residents have been living their new lives for a month now under a transitional government led by the Islamic rebel group HTS.

The takeover of Aleppo was well prepared. Posters with QR codes that refer to WhatsApp groups where citizens are informed about practical city matters are now hanging in the streets.

Residents are positive, especially because improvements are immediately visible. For example, cooking oil and cola from Turkey are available again. “The economic situation is better now and will hopefully get even better still,” a resident says.

The leaders of HTS say that their primary aim is to restore order and prevent chaos in the period of transition. A temporary solution, but the question is of course whether these men will be prepared to share power later on.

“We consider ourselves servants of the people”, says Fawaz Hilal, HTS representative in Aleppo. “If the people choose us, we do our duty. If they do not choose us, we accept that too,” he said.

Additional sources • EBU