Even as forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reassert control over much of Damascus, residents of the capital say they feel increasingly distant from the government they have long supported and are confident that it will eventually fall. …

On the streets of Damascus, there are thick plumes of smoke rising from rubble, the sounds of helicopter gunships in the air and long lines to buy bread. In the past week, residents who had been sharing their homes with Syrians who fled to the capital to escape the violence have been forced to flee themselves. More than a million people have been displaced by the fighting in Syria, according to data from the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. …

As more and more Syrians experience the violence, people here say it is becoming increasingly difficult for Assad and his government to carry on, though they acknowledge it could take months for the opposition to prevail.