Homs, former rebel stronghold, prepares to vote

A billboard that reads "Hope through work. Bashar al-Assad" is seen near damaged buildings, ahead of the May 26 presidential election, in Homs, Syria May 23, 2021. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

HOMS, Syria (Reuters) - At the entrance to Bab Tadmor, a neighbourhood of Homs that was once a rebel stronghold, an election billboard showing a smiling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs down the side of a bombed out building.

Homs, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Damascus, suffered severe damage during Syria's ten years of war. The city centre and several neighbourhoods were almost entirely destroyed after years of air strikes and barrel bombs, and still lie in ruin and deserted.