A photo showing the large-scale devastation in the neighborhoods of the city of Homs which were destroyed by the Assad regime was selected among the winners of the 2018 National Geographic Photo Contest.
The photo ‘Road to Ruin’ by German photographer Christian Werner won third place in the places category. It spans a street in the district of Al-Khalidiya in Homs which the Assad regime reduced to rubble.
“While on assignment for Der Spiegel, we made a road trip through Syria to document the current situation in major cities. When I first entered the Khalidiya district in Homs, I was shocked. I hadn’t seen such large-scale destruction before, and I had been to many destroyed cities.” Werner said.
“The area around the Khalidiya district was extremely quiet. No city sounds, cars—nothing. Only the chirping of swallows and the wind.”
The photo was among other photographs Werner took of major Syrian cities which were destroyed by the Assad regime’s forces. The set of photographs were called Rubble and Delusion.
The Dailymail earlier published aerial footage of Homs showing a ghost town. The ruins of buildings, rubble and fired shells are all what can one find in the city which was once an important industrial center.
The third largest city in Syria, Homs is the only Arab city to be featured in the photo contest. It was one of the first Syrian cities to revolt against the Assad regime in 2011 which responded by brutal shelling, besiegement and the mass forced displacement of its residents. (Source Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
