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NewsTranscript
00:00Are we supposed to sleep on the streets? We need to go home.
00:04We're going home. Don't be afraid.
00:10I was wounded in my first operation.
00:13He was hit by a shell. He's blind now.
00:15I didn't take part in any operations. I didn't do anything.
00:19He was demobilized, but we kept the flat.
00:21This former officer in Bashar al-Assad's army is trying to convince this HTS fighter to let him go home.
00:31Thank you, thank you. May God protect your children.
00:36For fear of retribution, the family fled its staff accommodation when the regime fell.
00:41It's okay, they let us in.
00:43This compound is home to the officers of the infamous 4th Division.
00:47The elite unit headed by Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher was feared for its brutality
00:52and accused of committing crimes against humanity.
01:01These officers' wives are Alawites, the same religious minority as the Assad family.
01:06They cower in these flats, afraid of revenge attacks.
01:10We are afraid there be blood. We are afraid of sectarism.
01:15Our husbands were officers in that idiot's army.
01:18But our husbands didn't do anything.
01:20If they had, we wouldn't have returned to our apartments.
01:23My husband hasn't killed anyone. We want to know what will happen to our husbands.
01:30All the flats in the compound have been broken into.
01:33The door is smashed and all valuables are gone.
01:38They stole the TV.
01:44When HTS took Damascus, we were frightened.
01:47We took a few of our belongings and fled.
01:50We were told they would slit our throats because we are Maher al-Assad's 4th Division.
01:56The compound is practically deserted.
01:59Some officers have fled abroad.
02:01Others are hiding in their villages, waiting to hand their weapons to the new authorities
02:05and hoping to be granted a taswiya, a certificate that they have no blood on their hands.
02:11In the meantime, these HTS fighters tell us they're here to protect the residents from potential attacks.
02:19It's strictly forbidden to touch a former regime soldier.
02:22The taswiya are being investigated and delivered.
02:24They'll join the army under the new government's control
02:27after the HTS is suspended to become the defence ministry.
02:30Then everything will be in order.
02:32This is an example of the challenge that lies ahead for the new authorities here in Damascus.
02:37They are going to have to achieve national reconciliation
02:41while delivering justice for the victims of Bashar al-Assad's regime.