Some restaurants and coffee shops in Syria were closed during the day as observant Muslims began fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

Before the fall (of Assad’s regime), last Ramadan, it didn’t even feel like Ramadan. You couldn’t really tell. But now, it’s obvious. Restaurants are closed, people aren’t openly breaking their fast,’

Damascenes are experiencing the first Holy Month of Ramadan without the al-Assad family in more than five decades. Bashar al-Assad, who took over from his father Hafez, was the last of the family to lead the country.