Here’s what Aleppo looked like before the shelling began

14 December 2016 English

A general view shows the Old City of Aleppo as seen from Aleppo's historic citadel, Syria December 11, 2009. Picture taken December 11, 2009. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RTSVD29

Syria’s northern city of Aleppo was once a thriving commercial hub with a proud history dating back millennia. Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, much of the city has been devastated by intense shelling and airstrikes.

As government forces work to wrest back control of Aleppo from an armed rebellion, which is battling against the Assad family’s 40-year rule, aid groups are cautioning that civilians have fewer places to go while their city gets hammered. The U.N. human rights office said Tuesday that government forces had killed at least 82 civilians in the eastern neighborhoods, reported the AFP.

“The worst humanitarian tragedy of the 21st century is unfolding before our eyes,” said France’s U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre, according to the Associated Press.

“It will never be rebuilt in the same way. It will never be this living museum at the crossroads of civilization.” — correspondent Courtney Kealy

Overall, more than 250,000 people have died in the five-year conflict, and repeated attempts to broker a cease-fire have failed.

Courtney Kealy, a television and radio correspondent now based in New York, remembers visiting Syria for the first time in 1999 to do a travel piece for the New York Times.

She covered a Sufi concert in an 8th century palace, watched artisans hand print designs on fabric and bought strands of natural pearls for her family.

Aleppo epitomized Syria’s place on the Silk Road ancient trading route. “The souk (open-air market) was so narrow that you could only send goods through by donkey. You just felt like you’d stepped into another century.”

Now, looking at the images of the destruction is heartbreaking, Kealy says. “It will never be rebuilt in the same way. It will never be this living museum at the crossroads of civilization.”

Reuters photographers have documented the city before and after the war began, in these 2009 images and others taken in the past few days.

THEN

The Old City of Aleppo is viewed from the historic citadel on Dec. 11, 2009. Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters

NOW

An image taken by a drone shows the Old City of Aleppo and the historic citadel on Oct. 12, 2016. Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

An image taken by a drone shows the Old City of Aleppo and the historic citadel on Oct. 12. Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

THEN

Visitors walk inside Aleppo’s Umayyad Mosque on Oct. 6, 2010. Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters

NOW

A general view of the damage in the Umayyad Mosque in Old Aleppo on Dec. 15, 2013. Photo by Molhem Barakat/Reuters

THEN

A vendor sits inside an antique shop in the al-Jdeideh neighborhood of Aleppo on Dec. 12, 2009. Photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters

NOW

Men salvage belongings from their damaged shops at a site hit on Nov. 16 by airstrikes in the rebel held al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

Men salvage belongings from their gutted shops at a site hit by airstrikes on Nov. 16 in the rebel held al-Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. Photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters