Syria city back to a kind of normalcy after cease-fire

By ALBERT AJI
Associated Press

DARAA, Syria (AP) — The badly damaged old section of the southern Syrian city of Daraa, which until recently was held by opposition gunmen, appears to have slowly returned to some sense of normalcy. The capture of Daraa al-Balad marked another victory for President Bashar Assad, whose forces now control much of the country 10 years after Syria’s civil war began. A Russian-negotiated cease-fire deal went into effect last week to end a government siege and intense fighting in Daraa city with rebel fighters holed up in Daraa al-Balad. On Sunday, men drove by on motorcycles while some women walked around the area to buy food from the few shops that were open.