Aleppo's Souk Madina now a battleground following fire
Traders' future is uncertain after fire left shops in ruin at bazaar that is now a sniper's paradise
The familiar passageways have turned hostile, the comforting labyrinth now a maze of menace.
But Abu Taher threaded his way through the alleys of Aleppo's ancient Souk Madina on Tuesday, past piles of debris and charred storefronts, determined to see whether his textile shop had survived the recent conflagration. He came alone, risking his fate to the hidden gunmen seeking targets.
"It's our livelihood," he explained, abruptly bursting into tears, a man of 60 weeping amid the desolation.
Abu Taher found little sympathy, however, from a group of armed rebels camped out in front of a trashed pistachio emporium, 50 metres from the front lines and the current range of government marksmen. The rebels have seen many of their comrades killed as they battle the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"Why are you crying about a shop [when] people are dying?" one combatant with a Kalashnikov rifle dismissively asked the grieving merchant, who, like others, requested that he be identified with a nickname for security reasons. "Go back home, uncle."
His shop, as it turned out, was unscathed. But some nearby establishments had not survived the onslaught.
Last month's devastating fire that raged around the ancient bazaar is said to have destroyed hundreds of shops. Many still don't know the fate of their businesses, their families' lifelines.