Abdulkafi, an English teacher from Aleppo, saw his father for the first time in years on Monday, days after rebels launched an offensive to capture the northern Syrian city from government forces.
“He is 85 years old, old man. He never dreamed that he would see me again before he died,” said Abdulkafi, who lives in the opposition area. Until the attack, he was unable to cross into government-held Aleppo.
A video of the encounter, seen by the BBC, shows the two men hugging and crying with emotion.
Abdulkafi is one of the few people inside Aleppo who have spoken to the BBC since the city was captured by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group and allied forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
They described respectful treatment by HTS fighters and an increase in electricity and water supplies – but also spoke of their fear of a return to Aleppo and their disbelief that the former al-Qaeda-linked group will remain balanced.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the recent fighting, according to the UN.
Many of those interviewed asked not to be identified for their safety. Some details of individual accounts could not be verified due to the difficulty of reporting outside of Syria.
Many people in Aleppo fear new fighting, say locals the BBC spoke to. Air strikes by the Syrian government and allied Russian forces have killed dozens, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group.
One man told the BBC that his biggest concern is the bombings which he fears could hit the city at any time. He said he has stopped his family even going to the corner store.
“We live in complete fear,” he said. He added that the airstrikes that hit the city a few days ago reminded him of earlier times in the war.
Aleppo, most of which was captured by rebels in the early years of Syria’s civil war, was retaken by Russian-backed Syrian government forces in 2016 after a heavy siege.
Since then, the city has largely avoided direct combat. The Syrian government says it is honored by what it says is the continued reconstruction of the city, which until the war became Syria’s commercial hub.
But NGOs and independent journalists accuse the government of human rights abuses there, including torture and killings and non-democratic rights.
Abdulkafi’s meeting with his father was pleasant – but Abdulkafi said some of his relatives were afraid to be seen with him because they were afraid of reprisals if the government forces would retake the city.
Their long estrangement began when his father, who worked in Saudi Arabia, returned to government-held territory after Abdulkafi moved to rebel-held areas.
“Nineteen eighty-four is used in Aleppo. Assad’s picture is on every building, street, every corner. He controls their minds,” he said, referring to George Orwell’s novel about tyranny.
For him, the victory of the rebels was the “victory of freedom” he had been waiting for since he left the city in 2016.
Some in Aleppo are very afraid. One woman said people were “confused and scared” following the rebel takeover. He said he had not left his home, but later went with his family to go for a walk after hearing that the villagers were not being harassed by the rebels.
“Everywhere was calm. But everyone looked scared and worried, you could hear it on their faces and in their responses. No one looked relaxed.
“People are afraid, because we don’t trust anyone or how they react to what is happening now.
“We feel let down by everyone. We don’t know what will happen to us.”
George Meneshian, a Greek-Armenian political analyst who works with Armenians in Aleppo, said Christians in the city have not faced any problems since the HTS takeover.
“On the first day, an HTS fighter knocked on the door of an Armenian neighbor and assured them that he would never harm them,” he told the BBC, adding that his sources were afraid to speak directly to the media out of fear. revenge.
They said they will respect them and allow them to do whatever they want, as Christians and as Armenians.”
But he said Christians are suspicious of HTS’s promises, saying that small groups in Syria that were once persecuted by Jihadist groups initially said they would not harm non-Muslims. He said many have become accustomed to Assad’s rule, which was a dictatorship but at least he did not fully persecute the Armenian people.
“There are examples of Islamic militants who initially did not harm anyone, but then committed crimes against a few people. I hope this will not be the case.”
But Abdulkafi, who lives in the HTS-controlled town of Al-Dana in Idlib, said the minority had nothing to fear from the group, stressing that he did not agree with it.
“They show more flexibility, because the highest success that HTS can achieve is to be accepted in the world. This does not mean that I love them.”
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