Syrian refugees reflect on suffering and escape

Syrian refugees, too, are remembering their suffering at the hands of Soleimani-commanded forces.

Khoula al-Ali, who is displaced from the city of Homs and lives in the Saudi city of Jeddah, believes that the powerful Soleimani was effectively the president of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

In 2013, Ali was forced with her husband and five of her children from the north of Syria’s Homs province to southern Daraa, from where she travelled to Jordan and eventually Saudi Arabia through smuggling routes.

"Soleimani is primarily responsible for the suffering of all the people of Homs," she tells Harun al-Aswad.

"The killing of Soleimani is a major victory for all mothers who lost their children as a result of Soleimani and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's support for the Syrian president."

Imran Hajar, from Aleppo, lives in the Turkish province of Bursa. He agrees with Ali: “The killing of Soleimani is a great victory for the Syrian revolution, and for all the Syrian detainees.”

Both within Syria and in the diaspora, Syrians are congratulating themselves on Soleimani’s demise, Hajar says.

"Soleimani was the main cause of injustice and the killing and displacement of many civilians from their cities. Today, thank God, he died."