Syria’s workhorse dies with ALEPPO

A dozen men stand in silence watching as others brick up the shattered storefront of an industrial hardware shop. A mortar strike blew apart its façade only hours ago in this northeastern section of Aleppo, and three hundred meters down the street fighting continues to rage between government forces and opposition fighters of the Free Syrian Army. No words are shared between the disgruntled merchants and a pair of rebel fighters standing nearby — there is clearly little love lost. The wrecked shop is in a district called Aaqoora, in the middle of what used to be one of the city’s thriving industrial quarters. Now the hundreds, if not thousands, of small and medium sized factories here are empty. “Not a single one of the businesses in this area is working now… none,” snaps one of the bystanders. Further down the block, a door swings ajar on a textiles factory.