TO GO WITH AFP REPORTAGE 'SYRIA-CONFLICT-RECONSTRUCTION'
Kifah Jaafer (C), local manager of the 'Management of Liberated Areas' authority, speaks with officials at his office in Maaret al-Numan, in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, on December 14, 2024. Vegetation grows between crumbled walls and torn asphalt in Maaret al-Numan, once home to nearly 100,000 people, which became a key battleground since fighting broke out in the Syrian civil war in 2012 due to its location on the strategic M5 highway linking Aleppo to Damascus. But with the ousting of long-time president Bashar al-Assad on December 8 by an Islamist-led rebel force, many of its residents displaced by war couldn't stay away after years of exile, and are returning, eager to rebuild their homes and lives in spite of the surrounding devastation. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)