Petrol shortages have also eased, while the Syrian pound has strengthened by 20% against the US dollar

Damascus appeared to be adjusting to a new normality a week after Islamist-led rebels forced president Bashar al-Assad to flee the country, with schools and universities reopening on the first day of the working week.

Ali Allaham, the dean of Damascus University’s arts faculty, told AFP that 80% of staff and a “large number of students” had arrived on campus. About 30% of children had returned to one school, a staff member said, and that was expected to rise in the coming days.