Syria's Clashing Armies

Defecting soldiers have formed a loose alliance of militias to defend their homes and families, but the regime of Bashar Assad is out to crush them without mercy

Alessio Romenzi for TIME

Syria Under Siege: Photographs by Alessio Romenzi

Syria is no longer sliding into war or staring at the abyss of war.

Syria is at war.

The families hiding in the basements of the Bab Amr district in Homs have no doubt about it. No one dares to step outside or even venture upstairs for fear of government shells crashing onto them. Bodies have been dragged into homes from the streets so they will not rot out in the open. It is too dangerous to hold funerals. Photographer Alessio Romenzi, who holed up with some Bab Amr families for a couple of days, counted 25 civilian fatalities in just...

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