Destruction in Damascus

Running for their lives in Homs.

Some two years after the launch of a popular uprising in Syria, places across the country have been left barren and broken.

For many shelling is now a part of everyday life, in a war that has already killed 70,000 people.

Amateur video, which could not be independently verified by Reuters, shows parts of the capital city in ruins.

Buildings are pock-marked by war.

Clouds of smoke hover over empty streets.

Analysts say it will take years and tens of billions of dollars to fix the economy.

And there is no end game in sight to the conflict.

The West was quick to help the rebellion in Libya. In Syria there is a fear of a regional conflict given the close ties of the government to Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian militants.