Haunting Before And After Photos Of War-Torn Aleppo, Syria
07.14.2016

"Before the civil war began, Aleppo was Syria's largest city [population 2.3 million]," RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev reported.

"It is really something of a mixing pot; you had all sorts living together there – Assyrians, Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, Turks, all living together peacefully."

"Before the war, the city's ancient splendor and cultural diversity made it a source "of hundreds of thousands of tourists; there was also business, industry, finance, jobs – it was a bustling metropolis. And then of course, the civil war began…"

Sadly, not one corner of the beautiful city has escaped the conflict unscathed. And Aleppo's citizens have suffered also. Various rebel groups have been known to rob, mug, and even kill any civilian that happened to cross their path. And the Syrian government hasn't shown much respect for human life either.

"Mass executions in Aleppo were not a rarity, – they weren't a unique thing. They happened often," Gazdiev says.

"At one point, rebels actually turned off electricity and water supplies to the entire city, because they couldn't just [turn off] just the government-controlled areas – so they disconnected everything, even areas that they controlled. So it is at all surprising that so many people fled Aleppo?"

Sadly, not one corner of the beautiful city has escaped the conflict unscathed. And Aleppo's citizens have suffered also. Various rebel groups have been known to rob, mug, and even kill any civilian that happened to cross their path. And the Syrian government hasn't shown much respect for human life either.

"Mass executions in Aleppo were not a rarity, – they weren't a unique thing. They happened often," Gazdiev says.

"At one point, rebels actually turned off electricity and water supplies to the entire city, because they couldn't just [turn off] just the government-controlled areas – so they disconnected everything, even areas that they controlled. So it is at all surprising that so many people fled Aleppo?"