Watching Syria’s War Videos and images of the continuing conflict in Syria
The New York Times is tracking the human toll of the conflict in this feature. The primary source is the online video that has allowed a widening war to be documented like no other, and posts try to put the video into context. Edited by Liam Stack
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Rebels Claim to Have Seized Aleppo's Great Mosque Updated February 26WarningGraphic content
Rebels posted video of themselves inside a heavily damaged chamber of Aleppo's nearly 1,000-year-old Great Mosque. It is a major landmark in Syria's largest city, where rebels and the government have fought for months.
WarningThis video contains
graphic images.Show videoFighters Take Cover From Gunfire in Damaged Mosque
A rebel fighter wearing a gas mask charged into a damaged chamber of Aleppo's Great Mosque, where others had taken shelter from the crackling gunfire and booming munitions outside. Rebels claimed to have "liberated it from Assad's gangs" in a series of videos taken in and around the mosque and posted online on Tuesday. The nearly 1,000-year-old building is a major landmark in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, where rebels and the government have engaged in a fierce battle for months.
The men in this video appear to be from the Al Tawheed Brigade, a large and powerful rebel group in Aleppo Province. Fighting between the government and rebels has stretched for months in Aleppo, but the government largely lost control of the countryside around the city and across northern Syria.
We do not know much about the battle that came before the rebels claimed seizure of the Great Mosque. We do not know how many fighters were killed in the battle, or why some are seen wearing gas masks in these videos. We do not know how much damage the mosque sustained in the battle.
The Al Tawheed Brigade posted two videos on YouTube that show its members approaching the mosque through back alleys. The men in these two videos wore black gas masks like the fighters shown in the video above, which is an unusual detail not typically seen in videos from Syrian battlefields.
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why #FSA fighters are wearing anti-chemical masks while liberating the Grand Mosque of #Aleppo? //t.co/vGON7yR8EG #Syria
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#Syria Important victory: Rebels now inside Great Ummayad Mosque of #Aleppo //t.co/wUtCy362GV //t.co/mUZsfNF8xx
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