The American flag waved next to the Syrian flag in Wells Park Sunday as the San Diego Syrian community gathered to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Syrian Civil War and to call for an end to the conflict.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the war and millions have been forced into exile.
Children held Syrian flags with the word ‘freedom’ written across as the group chanted ‘free Syria’ together.
The rally comes nearly a month after the Syrian government's deadliest bombing raid in the rebel pocket of eastern Ghouta, which killed more than 200 people, according to U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“It’s sad, but incidents like that bring a little bit more attention, but unfortunately we’re not seeing any improvements,” rally speaker Lila Suboh told NBC 7.
President Assad met with troops when he visited eastern Ghouta Sunday, which is the last major rebel stronghold around Damascus. Thousands of civilians started a mass exodus out of Ghouta since Syrian government forces launched the assault last month to capture the area.
