SHOTLIST: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (OCT. 30, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF ARTIFICIAL MOUNTAIN FORMED BY RUBBLE FROM ASSAD REGIME ATTACKS 2. OLD GARBAGE TRUCKS PARKED NEXT TO ARTIFICIAL MOUNTAIN FORMED BY RUBBLE (TWO SHOTS) 3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) RESIDENT OF ARBIN, AHMAD AL SHEIKH HASSAN SAYING: "My name is Ahmad al-Sheikh Hassan, from the city of Arbin, born in 1985. Is this the soil you see here from this town? This is all the war’s leftovers since 2018. All of this is the debris left by the war we went through. Assad’s gangs were here; all these houses—everything here—saw blood and destruction. Since 2018, they’ve gathered the rubble and brought it here. You can find everything here—household items and such. Most of these houses were collected here. Brother, do you think this is just ordinary dirt? This is not normal soil; all of this is our memories. There used to be a park here—these places were all orchards. Everything was here, as you can see with your eyes. This is not ordinary dirt. These were people’s homes—all these houses—all gathered, crushed, and piled here. We have many memories here. This was my family’s house—you can see it here; that was my uncle’s house. A river used to run through here called the Apple River. Yes, uncle, you brought back memories. This land was very beautiful. This is all because of the regime we suffered under—all these houses, everything. There used to be playgrounds and gardens; they erased so much, and now it’s a very tall mound. They say its area is around two hundred thousand square meters, and its height is about four or five stories—a very big mountain. May God take revenge on him, may God take revenge on the Assad regime.." 4. VARIOUS OF CHILD CLIMBING ARTIFICIAL MOUNTAIN FORMED BY RUBBLE 5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) EYEWITNESS TO EVENTS, MUHAMMAD DARWISH SAYING: "About this hill — the regime once turned it into a mass grave for the people. This hill is like a long row of graves made from the houses the regime bombed, forcing residents to flee. Their homes became their burial sites here. This hill holds the town’s memories — its neighborhoods, houses, people, and belongings — all buried beneath it." 6. GARBAGE TRUCKS PARKED NEXT TO ARTIFICIAL MOUNTAIN/ SYRIANS WALKING PASTDAMASCUS, SYRIA - OCT. 30: Once a vibrant neighborhood in Damascus, the Arbin district now stands as a mound of rubble following years of bombardment by regime forces. Between 2012 and 2018, Arbin—part of Eastern Ghouta—remained under siege and outside regime control, enduring relentless air and artillery strikes. In the aftermath, debris from destroyed buildings was gathered and moved to the city center, forming an artificial hill roughly the height of a five-story building on what was once a children’s playground. Residents describe the enormous mound as a “mass grave of memories,” containing fragments of homes, belongings, and lives lost during the war. “The rubble is not ordinary soil but the memories of our families, our orchards, and our homes,” said Ahmad al-Sheikh Hassan, a resident of Arbin. Another resident, Muhammad Darwish, said the site had become “a collective grave for people’s houses and lives,” symbolizing the destruction that erased entire neighborhoods and generations. Syria has been working to revive the country’s economy by attracting investors and signing trade agreements with regional states and companies after Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia in late 2024, ending the Baath Party’s decades-long rule since 1963.