Thousands of men, women and children converged in the centre of Homs to celebrate the "victory of the revolution" following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. Many waved the three-star flag adopted by the new authorities in a festive atmosphere reminiscent of the large demonstrations at the start of the war in 2011 before the bloody crackdown turned into a devastating conflict. "At the beginning of the revolution, many demonstrations were organised every Friday, but every week we counted a large number of deaths. Because of the high number of victims, we were afraid to organise these demonstrations", laments Tesnim Chelha, who has come to the city centre to celebrate "Victory Friday". Later in the day, many worshippers gathered at the Khaled Ibn Al-Walid mosque in Homs for Friday prayers. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES