国际英语资讯:Feature: War in Syria turns city to ghost town_时事

国际英语资讯:Feature: War in Syria turns city to ghost town

Muhammad Basmeh, a Syrian soldier, jammed his hands in his pocket from the cold wind and said he was happy to be able to take part in liberating the city from the rebel groups. He wished for a quick return of the residents to their homes.

Basmeh himself had tasted the pain of displacement as his family had to flee the battles in the countryside of Latakia province in 2013, saying "losing a home is one of the hardest things the Syrians endured during the crisis."

In the Sabaa Bahrat, the main square in Maarat al-Numan, a few big palm trees were still standing but the smaller ones were either broken or burnt during the battles. The square's fountain were dried up.

The famous statue of Abu Al-Alaa Al-Maarri, a historic Arab philosopher, poet and writer, disappeared from the square. The last time that the statue was seen was in a 2013 video by the radical rebels, who beheaded the statue, as al-Maarri was a critic of Islam in his days.

The mosaic painting museum, located near the square, is considered one of the most famous museums in the world as some of the paintings date back to the 5th century.

Some of the paintings were completely destroyed, others were partially damaged while some others were still kept intact, telling the stories of hundreds of years ago.

It is not the only museum damaged during the war, as museums in Aleppo, Palmyra and Idlib were subject to the looting and smuggling of priceless artifacts.