Life in Liberated Aleppo Goes On, Traces of Militants' Presence Seen Everywhere

 The Syrian military still finds stockpiles of weapons and food, some documents, while there are also traces of the foreign presence.

Over the recent months, Aleppo, one of the largest cities in Syria, became a major battleground in Syria with Damascus seeking to liberate the city divided into the western part held by the government and the eastern part controlled by the militants.

A RIA Novosti correspondent visited Eastern Aleppo, where he met with people and saw himself what the so-called moderate opposition left behind.

Aleppo’s terra incognita begins just after the Christian quarter of Aziziya, the inhabitants of which are preparing for the first time in five years to celebrate the New Year and Christmas on a large scale, with a big Christmas tree at the central square and streets, decorated with garlands. People still cannot get used to the life without blasts and funeral processions sirens.

The picture completely changes less than a mile ahead — cemeteries everywhere, no non-destroyed houses, while the road to the airport is cratered by bombs.

People have already started to return back to their homes, they are busy with clearing the debris and restoration works. But the war traces are everywhere, with many streets still having smoky smell, burnt and crumpled cars everywhere. The atmosphere is strained, people are intimidated and not very talkative.

Still people are ready to answer the questions, as each person has its own tragic story to share.

"The leader of one of the terrorist units lived in my apartment. Look, there are booklets with Daesh emblem, documents on transferring a militant from one unit to another, while in another room there is a vest for ammunition and uniforms for 30 people," an elderly man called Abu Samir said.

Some time ago western heads of state and media said that eastern Aleppo was held by Syrian moderate opposition, the rebels fighting for their freedom against President Bashar Assad’s army. The question arises: why did the rebels need the propaganda booklets with the insignia of Daesh, a group that is recognized by many countries as terrorist?

"Do not be surprised by what you see. The banners and names are just a label. A terrorist remains a terrorist. Look, here is a transfer document," Samir said, giving the correspondent a dirty piece of paper.

The document looked very official, having a photo of a man and his name. The document said that the man was an "ordinary Feilak al-Sham militant" who sought to become an "official" terrorist and wanted to join the Nusra Front.

There were also some documents on transfer of terrorists into the ranks of "moderate."

Having said goodbye to Abu Samir at the army’s post, the correspondent started the conversation with Capt. Ali.

"We found in this area a facility producing shells from gas cylinders and warehouses with hand-made grenades. We have not touched anything; we are waiting for specialists. They should arrive tomorrow. The number of ammunition depots in Eastern Aleppo turned out to be higher than we had expected, combat engineers have been working for three weeks already without having rest," Ali said on the way to one of the warehouses.

Across the street there was a large building, with lots of burned equipment near it.