The last tailor in Aleppo’s Old City now mainly sews military caps for Syrian soldiers
Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad walk through rubble after they advanced on the southern side of the Castello road in Aleppo, Syria, in this handout picture provided by SANA on July 28, 2016.
Instead of colorful, handmade caps for sale to Syrians and foreign tourists, Zakaria Mosuli — the last tailor in Aleppo's battered Old City — now sews military headwear almost exclusively for soldiers.
More than five years of war have turned Aleppo's historic city center, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site home to an imposing citadel, into a makeshift military barracks.
Syrian shoppers and foreign backpackers have been replaced by war-weary troops, and colorful souvenir stands have given way to checkpoints dividing the ancient market into rebel- and government-held zones.
"I am the only tailor left in Aleppo's Old City," says Mosuli in his modest shop in a regime-controlled street of the district.
He snips carefully from camouflaged military-style fabric at his shop, one of a handful in the souk that is still open.
"In the past, I used to sew colorful hats for children and women and young people," he says.
"But today, my specialty is making army-style caps, as this whole neighborhood has become a military zone and Syrian army soldiers are everywhere."
Violence broke out in Aleppo in mid-2012, more than a year after anti-government protests first erupted across Syria.
The 8-mile ancient market — the largest souk in the world — became a front line.
Its streets are littered with rubble and walls are scarred by years of gunfire, rockets and mortar rounds.
'People have all left'
Zakaria says he and his family refused to leave and do not regret their decision.
He brings in fabric from a government-held district into Old Aleppo, crossing several checkpoints and dodging shelling and snipers along the way.
"I have loyal customers who come from inside Aleppo, but most of my customers these days are soldiers and officers."
Pointing to two small birds that swooped into his apartment, Zakaria says: "These are my only friends. The people have all left."
Of the 200 families that once lived in the Old City, just 15 remain.
Most shops were shuttered long ago with metal gates painted in the tricolor Syrian government flag.
Other storefronts are charred black from car bombs and shelling, and many have had their windows blown in by rocket attacks.
When an AFP correspondent visited the market, soldiers were strolling through the ruined streets.