Syria Civil War: 9 Vivid Photos Showing Life Inside Syria

Anna Therese Day has been reporting in war torn Syria for the past several months. These are her most recent photos.

1) Welcome to Syria.

A Syrian driver brings food supplies between Syria and Turkey. Though he is a civilian, he was not spared by the ongoing aerial assaults of the al-Assad regime.

2) The border.

This fall, thousands of Syrian refugees established makeshift camps along the Syrian-Turkish border, awaiting entry into the formal refugee camps in Turkey. Over 500,000 Syrian refugees have fled to regional countries, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

3) In limbo.

Children gather water for their families at the makeshift camps for the thousands of Syrian refugees awaiting entry into Turkey. According to UNHCR Spokesperson, Sybella Wilkes, the majority of the refugees are young children.

4) Nouma, mother of 5. 

Nouma, mother of 5, sits with her mother and family in their makeshift tent, awaiting entry into Turkey. Her family’s home was shelled as well as the factory in which her husband worked. Suddenly jobless and homeless, Nouma says she just wants to get into Turkey. “We’re not safe here. No where is safe in Free Syria until Bashar’s airplanes [from the aerial bombardments] are stopped,” she says.

5) Young men join the Free Syrian Army.

With their lives on hold, young men of all backgrounds have joined the Free Syrian Army. Human rights organizations, however, are closely watching the conduct of all armed groups – not just the al-Assad government – and abuses, like child soldiers, have already surfaced.

6)  The jungle gym.

In the northern Syrian town of Azaz, children play amidst the rubble of their former neighborhoods. This tank is town's new jungle gym. After being denied entry into Turkey, some Syrian families have returned to their neighborhoods, risking their lives to avoid the conditions of the makeshift border communities.

7) Rebuilding.

After his factory was shelled by the al-Assad regime, this elderly Syrian man worked to rebuild his life. “It’s all I had. What else can I do?” he says.

8) Liberated.

A child’s backpack was found amidst the rubble of the “liberated” Syrian border town, Azaz.

9) Eyes to the sky. 

Civilians in the “liberated” northern Syrian towns kept their eyes to the skies this fall in anticipation and trepidation from the ongoing aerial bombardments of the al-Assad regime. This boy was keeping an eye on the approaching jets after a day of several shellings in his town, al-Bab.