MAARAT AL-NUMAN, Idlib, Syria, Feb. 1 -- The smell of gunpowder is still fresh and the tracks of tanks and armored vehicles are still clear on the muddy road to Maarat al-Numan, the second-largest city in Idlib province, northwestern Syria.

The Syrian army captured the city recently, scoring an important victory against the rebel groups in their last major stronghold in Idlib and clearing part of the way toward securing the entire road connecting the capital Damascus in the south with Aleppo in the north.

However, war is not an easy word, particularly for the ordinary people. Maarat al-Numan, now empty of its residents, has been deserted like a ghost town, silently telling a story of war.

During a tour organized by the Syrian Information Ministry, reporters visited the city with the help of the Syrian army.

Scars of war was vividly seen in the city. The marketplace was empty of shopkeepers and shoppers but crowded with fighters and soldiers, who were breathing the sigh of relief after days of intense battles against the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front group.

On the walls, warmongering slogans from the rebels are penetrated with bullet holes.

There were houses without walls or ceilings, some buildings were stripped of both walls and roofs and left with staircases exposed to the open air.

Some other buildings were pancaked and seemed to have succumbed to their damage and kneeled down to the ground.

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