Syrian Spring: flowers replace the fallen
As war in the country is largely over, nature has reclaimed the piles of debris, barricades, craters and trenches
Aleppo — A mantle of gold smothers Aleppo’s ruins, hiding the rubble and filling the craters with wild flowers that, for a moment, seem to transform a landscape scarred by war, destruction and death. After an unusually wet winter, the warm days of spring have suddenly brought an abundance of colour and life to a weary Syria, blooming in city and desert. But they blanket a scene of war. The hummocks and dells are piles of debris, barricades, craters and trenches. The flowers grow where people once lived, fought, died. Eight years of conflict have killed perhaps half a million people, destroyed whole towns and city districts and made half of all Syrians homeless. In most parts of the country, the fighting is now over — at least for now. President Bashar al-Assad holds most of Syria, including the city of Aleppo, taken after months of bitter fighting in 2016. However, Kurdish-led groups hold north-east Syria, and in the north-west near Aleppo is the frontline with the last big rebel s...
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