A member of forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad walks inside the Umayyad mosque, in the government-controlled area of Aleppo, during a media tour, Syria December 13, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki
ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - The remains of the medieval Umayyad Mosque's felled minaret lie in its once-elegant courtyard along with discarded mattresses, fragments of rockets and antique doors, but, after years of fighting, Aleppo's holiest monument endures.
The minaret and the covered markets that surrounded the mosque may have been destroyed in battles between the Syrian army and rebel fighters in 2012 and 2013, but despite suffering great damage, much of the mosque has survived.
