We are confronted by new fears, and new sources of mourning. Despite it all, my city of Homs is in a state of joy

My friend called me crying. Homs was liberated, she said. My nerves were about to explode. Liberated, not liberated, liberated, not liberated – the only certainty was that Syrian insurgents had entered the city and taken some of its surrounding countryside.

I have lived in Homs all my life, writing under a pseudonym so that the world would know about the people of the city and their sorrow. I wanted to be our voice. After the siege of Homs from 2011 to 2014, the past decade has brought ever-present violence and frequent blockades of food, fuel and medicine.

Mona Rafea is the pseudonym of a writer based in Homs. Translated by Ammar Azzouz