Since the Battle of Aleppo started in 2012, the city has suffered massive destruction. It was split between the government-held western part and the rebel-held east. Throughout recent months, Aleppo became major battleground in Syria, engaging government forces, terrorists and numerous opposition groups.
Over the first weekend of December, the Syrian army, backed by local militia, recaptured a number of districts in eastern Aleppo from rebels and encouraged residents to visit neighborhoods and homes they left years earlier.
A general view taken from the government-held side of Aleppo shows smoke billowing near Aleppo's historic citadel during fighting between Syrian regime forces and rebel fighters on December 3.
People carry their belongings as they flee the Kadi Askar area towards Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood, in the rebel-held besieged Kadi Askar area of Aleppo on December 5.
A bus bringing residents back to their abandoned homes drives past damaged buildings in Aleppo's government-held Shihan neighborhood on December 3. For the past four years, taking a bus between the two sides of the divided city meant an arduous and sometimes dangerous 10-hour road trip.
A woman stands near the blood stained ground after strikes on rebel-held besieged al-Zebdieh district in Aleppo on December 5.
Destroyed buildings in Aleppo's eastern al-Shaar neighborhood, December 5.
Syrian pro-government forces advance in the Myessar district in east Aleppo in an ongoing operation to recapture all of the battered city on December 4.
A woman walks past burnt-out cars as she heads to check her house for the first time in four years in Aleppo's northeastern Haydariya neighborhood on December 4.
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© AP Photo / Hassan Ammar
Syrian army soldiers prepare for battle with rebels at the Ramouseh front line, east of Aleppo, on December 5.
A woman and her husband walk in a heavily damaged street as they head to check their house for the first time in four years in Aleppo's northeastern Haydariya neighborhood on December 4.
Syrian pro-government troops walk on a street in Aleppo's eastern Karm al-Jabal neighborhood as they advance towards al-Shaar neighborhood on December 5 during their offensive to retake the rebel-held part of the city.
A Russian soldier walks to a military vehicle in government-controlled Hanono housing district in Aleppo on December 4.
Smoke rises near Pro-Syrian government soldiers after shelling in al-Izaa area in Aleppo on December 5.
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© AP Photo / Hassan Ammar
A woman cries after she returned to her looted home in the Hanano district of eastern Aleppo on December 4. It's a painful homecoming shared by hundreds of Syrians who are returning to areas devastated by years of war and then retaken from the city's embattled rebels in a recent government offensive.
A woman and her husband walk among the ruins of a destroyed mosque in Aleppo's Hanano district as they head to check their house for the first time in four years in the city's northeastern Haydariya neighborhood on December 4.
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© Sputnik / Mikhail Alaeddin
A Russian military mobile hospital set up in western Aleppo was shelled by militants on December 5. As a result of a direct hit, one Russian military paramedic was killed and two staff workers were badly wounded.
