Great Mosque of Aleppo bears the marks of the ongoing destruction


The latest pictures emerging which show the Great Mosque of Aleppo indicate the scale of the destruction in the city, which is currently the scene of atrocities and heavy bombardments organized by the Assad regime.

Built in 715, the Great Mosque of Aleppo, also known as the Umayyad Mosque, has long been considered as one of the masterpieces of the Islamic Civilization and Culture.

The architecture of the Mosque reflects the rich and old history of the region, carrying elements from different western and eastern cultures.

The Great Mosque is part of the Ancient City of Aleppo, which was declared to be a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.

The ongoing civil war in Syria and the indiscriminate bombardments of the Assad regime and its allies have not spared the Great Mosque. The minaret of the Mosque had already been destroyed in 2013 by the attacks of the Assad regime.

Recent pictures showed that the extent of the destruction to the World Heritage Site has worsened, suggesting that the Mosque has been completely damaged.

A general view shows Assad regime forces walking in the ancient Umayyad mosque in the old city of Aleppo on Dec. 13, 2016. (AFP Photo)
A general view over damages inside the Umayyad Mosque in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, Syria on Dec. 13, 2016. (EPA Photo)
Forces loyal to Assad regime stand inside the Umayyad mosque, in the government-controlled area of Aleppo, during a media tour on Dec. 13, 2016. (Reuters Photo)

Aleppo has been one of the hot spots of the Syrian civil war, which was started in 2011 by the Assad regime's bloody crackdown on peaceful protests demanding the organization of democratic elections.

The Assad regime has so far caused the death of around 600,000 people in Syria, mostly civilians massacred in bombardments, shootings and chemical attacks.

Opposition-held parts of Aleppo have been besieged by the Assad regime since late August, causing great destruction in the city.

Assad regime forces, backed by Russian airstrikes in the air and thousands of Shiite militias organized by Iran on the ground, have recently made significant advances against the opposition-held eastern Aleppo.

Turkey, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Vladimir Putin's Russia brokered an evacuation deal on Tuesday to evacuate civilians from the opposition-held eastern Aleppo enclave.