The local rebel commander hands over a thin plastic shopping bag so full of live grenades it seems likely to split under the weight.

On the table in front of him lie two pistols, one with tape wrapped around the handgrip, while on the windowsill, arranged alongside walkie-talkies and a Koran, stands an array of exploding bullets.

Omar Swaid, 30, shrugs and lights a cigarette, as if such a sight is too commonplace these days to merit much conversation.

These are deposed president Bashar al-Assad’s weapons, remnants of the old regime that Omar and his fellow Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels have collected in recent days.

“When Assad fell, some of his people held on to them, but many others abandoned them in the streets for others to pick up,” he says.