What I Saw in Syria
Damascus, the capital, had an air of normalcy. But the city felt tense and weary.
Shells no longer fell in the old city, where the spectacular Grand Mosque remained untouched. But fighting continued in the suburbs.
Taking pictures is an old habit of mine. It has become part of my note taking, helping to recall the detail or mood of a place.
Fighting erupted in Aleppo, shattering a two-month cease-fire. I decided to travel north.
We had to take a longer route to avoid areas controlled by rebel groups.
We passed through Homs, Syria’s third-largest city and once the site of electrifying protests.
Today, the government controls the area, but much of the city lies in ruins.
We headed east to Ithriya, a government outpost surrounded by hostile forces.
At the desolate army outpost, soldiers showed me a pile of ammunition they had just captured from a militant smuggler.
Approaching Aleppo, we took a detour to avoid rebel-held territory.
Our first sight of Aleppo was the tragic image of the Syrian war: apartment blocks, now reduced to rubble by the fighting.
On our second day in Aleppo, the fighting worsened and I went to the main government hospital.
As rebel bombs fell in the streets, casualties poured into the emergency ward. Across the front line, airstrikes pounded rebel-held areas, killing over 50 people in a pediatric hospital.
We hurried between interviews, worried for the first time that we might be hit.
This was the harsh reality of Syria.
And this was just one day, in one city, of a war that has lasted five years.
I went back to my hotel. This is the view from my room. To my surprise, a wedding celebration was happening just across the street and I was invited to attend.
Declan Walsh, The New York Times’s Cairo bureau chief, reported from Syria for a week in April. Since then, the situation in the country has continued to deteriorate. Besieged towns have received little or no aid. At least six medical facilities have been bombed. Many civilians have died.
More stories from this trip
On Streets of Syria’s Capital, Even the Sweet Is Sour MAY 2, 2016
On the Ground in Aleppo: Bloodshed, Misery and Hope April 30, 2016
A Strange, Sad, Surprising Reality of Syria at War: Questions from Readers May 3, 2016