Tourists with selfie sticks in Aleppo war ruins

Syrian pro-government forces take a selfie in the courtyard of the ancient Umayyad mosque in the old city of Aleppo. Photo / AFP

After years of fighting in Aleppo, much of Syria's largest city has been destroyed.

Entire neighbourhoods in the rebel-held east have been reduced to rubble by government airstrikes, with civilians forced to survive with limited food and medical supplies.

Now, as the battle for the city reaches its final stages, visitors are returning to the historical sites at the city's centre - and taking selfies amid the ruins.

Photographs shot at the weekend by Omar Sanadiki of Reuters show groups of visitors in Aleppo's ravaged Old City, once one of Syria's top tourist spots.

In one photograph, a group of women is shown using a selfie stick outside the city's Citadel - a medieval and fortified palace that sits at the centre of the Old City. The Citadel, occupied by government forces as a base when the fighting in Aleppo began, came under heavy fire from rebels in April 2013, badly damaging it.

In another image, a woman posed in a car outside the 150-year-old Carlton Citadel Hotel, which lies in ruins after the Islamic Front rebel group blew it up in 2013 with explosives placed in tunnels they had dug underneath. Other images show visitors at the Old City's Umayyad mosque, once one of the largest and oldest mosques in the city.

Until recently, the Government had classified the Old City a military zone, with only troops, passing journalists and a handful of civilians allowed in. In early December, government forces were able to push the remaining rebels out. Now, in a mark of seeming normality, visitors are returning to the Old City.

Before the war, Syria was renowned not only for its Unesco World Heritage sites but also for its beaches, food and Arabic schools, which attracted visitors from all over the world. About 8.5 million tourists came to the country in 2011, according to the Tourism Ministry. The ministry has been releasing videos that ignore the war and advertise Syria as a fun, happy place for a holiday.

But the Old City isn't just a place of history - it was also a neighbourhood where people lived. Locals bought food or other goods in souks that have existed for centuries, and they worshiped in the area's mosques, churches and synagogues. Aleppo's long history as a Silk Road trading spot and its time under Turkish, French and British colonial rule had helped make it both diverse and tolerant. It's hard to imagine how its communities can be rebuilt.