House after house, block after block it is a scene of the most appalling devastation.
Not one building has escaped the onslaught of countless mortars, bombs and bullets in Syria’s savage civil war.
The only signs of life in Homs are out of control weeds. Syria’s third largest city and the home of 650,000 people before tens of thousands fled or were killed now looks as if it has been blasted back to the Stone Age.
The picture shows the city’s strategic Khalidiya district which troops loyal to president Bashar al-Assad have just retaken after weeks of fierce fighting with rebels.
The counter-offensive, which also saw the government make gains around the capital Damascus, was supported by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
At least 100,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, which started with peaceful protests against Assad’s rule in March 2011. Nearly two million refugees have fled.
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Destruction: This aerial view shows the destruction in the al-Khalidiyah neighbourhood of Homs, which has seen some of the heaviest fighting as government forces bid to flush rebels into the ope
Government troops launched a sweeping offensive to retake rebel-held areas of Homs, Syria's third-largest city, a month ago. Even if small pockets of resistance remain, the fall of Khaldiyeh to regime troops appeared to be a foregone conclusion, and its capture would be the second major setback to rebels in central Syria in as many months.
Shells of houses: The Khaled bin Walid Mosque is scarred and pockmarked from shrapnel spat into the city by the daily explosions that hit the city. Beyond the mosque, the shells of buildings and homes give the city the look of a post-apocalyptic wasteland
Tragic: The once glorious Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque in the heavily disputed northern neighborhood of Khaldiyeh, Homs, lies in ruins after being hit by shells during the long bombardment of the city
Bruised and battered: From the outside, the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque looks little better
In early June, regime forces captured the strategic town of Qusair in Homs province near the border with Lebanon. Troops have also captured the town of Talkalakh, another border town in the province.
The province of Homs is Syria's largest, and runs from the Lebanese frontier in the west all the way to the border with Iraq and Jordan in the east. The city of Homs holds strategic value because it serves as a crossroads: the main highway from Damascus to the north as well as the coastal region, which is a stronghold of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, runs through Homs.
Khaldiyeh had a population of about 80,000 but only some 2,000 remain there today as residents fled the violence, activists say. The heavy fighting over the past two years has caused extensive damage, with some buildings reduced to rubble.
Ghost town: Many of the roads in Homs are completely empty giving this once great city the look and feel of a ghost town, populated only by the thousands of souls who died here
Poignant: An empty chair sits among the shells of buildings is a haunting reminder of the life that used to fill the streets of Homs. They are now empty and desolate
In a report on Monday, Syrian state TV said 'the Syrian army has restored security and stability in the whole neighborhood of Khaldiyeh in Homs.'
A Syrian TV reporter embedded with troops in the area gave a live report standing in front of damaged buildings. He interviewed an army officer who said the troops fought a tough battle against rebels who mined buildings and fought from underground tunnels.
'As of this morning, our armed forces in cooperation with the (pro-government paramilitary) National Defense Forces have taken control of Khaldiyeh and are now cleansing the neighborhood,' said the officer, surrounded by about a dozen soldiers and plainclothes security agents.
No respite: Syrian youths inspect the site of a car bomb explosion at a roundabout on the outskirts of Homs
'The fate of terrorists will be under our feet,' he said, claiming that all Homs will be soon 'cleansed' of rebels.
The Observatory has said that troops are backed by members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group. Hezbollah, which did not acknowledge whether its members are fighting in Khaldiyeh, played a major role in a battle last month in Qusair, outside Homs, and lost scores of men there.
Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said government troops have captured most of the neighborhood apart from some fighting on its southern areas.
Another opposition activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the battle in Khaldiyeh 'is almost over.' He acknowledged that troops are almost in full control of the area.
Fire and smoke: Smoke and flames rise in the Khalidiyah neighbourhood of Homs after an attack by Syrian forces
Patrol: Syrian government forces patrol in the Khalidiyah neighbourhood of Homs. They claim to have broken the rebel resistance in the area
Still fighting: Syrian soldiers fire their weapons as fighting continued to rage in pockets of the city
Trundling on: A government tank patrols the neighbourhood under a shroud of smoke
Victory? Syrian soldiers pose for a photo while holding the Syrian flag in al-Khalidyya neighborhood which they claim to have secured
In the northern city of Aleppo, several rebel factions including the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, or Nusra Front, attacked army posts in two neighborhoods in a an offensive titled 'amputating infidels' the Observatory said.
It said rebels captured several buildings in the neighborhoods of Dahret Abed Rabbo and Lairamoun, and that eight government soldiers were killed.
Rebels have been on the offensive in Aleppo province and captured last week the strategic town of Khan el-Assal. Activists and state media said score of troops were killed there after their capture. The Western-backed Syrian National Council condemned the killings.
In the southern region of Quneitra, on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, government troops captured the town of Mashara on Sunday night after intense fighting, the Observatory said.
Destroyed: The sounds of busy traffic, bustling markets and children playing in the streets have been replaced by the roar of fighter jets, exploding bombs and gunfire
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group, however, denied that regime forces had seized all of the district of Khaldiyeh, saying there was still scattered fighting in southern areas of the neighborhood.
Syrian TV aired footage from the neighborhood, showing troops roaming deserted streets and waving flags in front of shell-scarred buildings. Two opposition activists in the area who could normally be contacted via Skype were offline Monday.
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