How badly were each of Syria’s major cities damaged?
By: A. B.
Tags: Damascus, Syria, Aleppo, Middle East, Syrian Civil War

Many cities were heavily damaged, but others emerged largely intact.

Some examples:

Damascus

Damascus, the capital city of Syria, has little damage to speak of. Throughout the war, it remained under government control, apart from the suburbs. The city center, old city, etc. are fully intact, and the main areas of damage are the suburbs of Hajar al-Aswad, Yarmouk, and Ghouta.

Downtown Damascus

Bab Touma, Old City

Hajar al-Aswad, destroyed by ISIS

Yarmouk, destroyed by ISIS

Aleppo

Aleppo, the largest city in Syria before the war, was severely damaged. It was under siege for 4 years, and the eastern half of the city, which sustained most of the damage, was controlled by jihadists, who had a complete disregard for buildings and infrastructure.

Quarters damaged include Bab al-Nayrab, Helwania (Tariq al-Bab), and Jdayde.

The Old City of Aleppo was also the scene of intense fighting, with 30% or so having been reduced to rubble!

Jdayde, Old Aleppo, destroyed by Al-Nusra Front

Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo, blown up by al-Nusra

Tariq al-Bab, ruined by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham

Zahraa, besieged by Ahrar al-Sham

Homs

Homs was liberated from jihadists in 2014, after having been besieged for 3 years. Part of the city remained in Syrian government control throughout the Seige of Homs, however, the northern and central districts of the city were the ones that came under jihadist control, and thus, they sustained the most damage.

The major areas of damage within Homs include the Old City, Dayr al-Baalba, al-Khalidiya, and Baba Amr.

Souq, Old Homs, destroyed by FSA Islamists

Dayr al-Baalba, flattened by the jihadist FSA

Al-Khalidiya, ruined by the FSA and al-Nusra Front

Baba Amr, destroyed by Al-Nusra

Hama

Hama was not decimated as Homs and Aleppo were, having remained mostly under government control for the duration of the war. However, many surrounding areas were jihadist-occupied, such as Mhardeh, Helfaya, and Murak.

Norias of Hama

Azem Palace

Helfaya, destroyed by al-Nusra Front

Murak, flattened by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

Latakia

Latakia, being on the Syrian coast, remained fully under government control for the duration of the war, as the coast itself was untouched by the war.

The entire city is fully intact, and there are even 2 million refugees from Idlib and Aleppo who fled there, as Latakia was not dangerous.

Latakia beach

Tetraporticus columns

National Museum of Latakia

Al-Zina Roundabout

Tartus

Like Latakia, Tartus is on the Syrian coast, and thus, it remained entirely under government control for the whole war. There is no damage in Tartus, and there are even 800,000 IDPs there.

Ma’abed Temple

Tartus beach

Residential quarter of Tartus

Al-Hamidiyah, Tartus

Raqqa

Raqqa was severely damaged during the war, having been captured first by Ahrar al-Sham jihadists, and then by ISIS, and finally by the SDF. The damage across Raqqa is relatively uniform, as roughly 80% of Raqqa was leveled in the fighting.

A lot of the damage was the result of the US-backed SDF coalition’s offensive into Raqqa to liberate it from ISIS. However, ISIS is also responsible for much of the damage, having blown up several buildings during its’ horrifying reign of terror.

Uwais al-Qarni Mosque, blown up by ISIS

Old City of Raqqa, destroyed by ISIS and the US-led coalition

Armenian Catholic Church of Raqqa, destroyed by ISIS and al-Nusra

Al-Meghle Bridge, destroyed by the US-led coalition

Deir ez-Zor

Similar to Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor was damaged by ISIS, as it was besieged for almost 4 years straight. Some parts of the city are reasonably intact, having remained under government control the entire time, but ISIS temporarily gained a large presence in the city center, and they inflicted damages there. As well, the suburbs were an active SAA-ISIS frontline during the siege, so they were decimated as well.

Armenian Genocide Memorial Church, destroyed by al-Nusra fighters and ISIS

Al Ashara Bridge, destroyed by the US/SDF coalition

Christian cemetery of Deir ez-Zor, desecrated by ISIS

Al-Baghiliyah, destroyed by ISIS

Qamishli

Unlike Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, Qamishli was not particularly damaged by ISIS, with very little fighting having taken place there. Most of the city is intact, but there have been many explosions, clashes, etc. which have resulted in localized damage.

City center, Qamishli

Qamishli cemetery

Church of the Virgin Mary, hit by an explosion

2016 Qamishli bombings, carried out by ISIS

Al-Hasakah

Similar to Qamishli, al-Hasakah was largely spared the continual bombardment of Deir ez-Zor, and remained mostly safe throughout the war, although an ISIS offensive in 2015 left parts of the city in ruins. Although there was an internal SAA-YPG battle in 2016, this one was not nearly as catastrophic, and al-Hasakah has remained peaceful since.

Syriac Orthodox Cathedral of al-Hasakah

Tal Hajjar neighbourhood

Al-Sahliya, destroyed by ISIS

Suicide bombing in al-Hasakah, responsibility claimed by ISIS

In conclusion, while parts of Syria were spared considerable destruction, others took the brunt of it. Hopefully, Syria will rebuild soon.

Thanks for reading!