Suy tư... Thinking...: A way of life destroyed: Intimate photos of relaxed Sunday lunches and playing by the pool give a rare insight into life in the once-beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo before it was laid to ruin by ISIS thugs

Stunning images of family life in Syria before Islamic State lay siege
Children's birthday parties and family lunches are seen along with visits to Aleppo attractions
Aleppo's ancient buildings and even its new amusement park are pictured before they were reduced to rubble
The Beloune family was forced to flee when extremists fired on their home
IS looters took more than $1 million of equipment from their business
The battle for control of Syria's largest city by various forces has destroyed many neighbourhoods

By FRANK COLETTA FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 22:07 GMT, 28 November 2015 | UPDATED: 01:04 GMT, 29 November 2015

These are the heartbreaking images which show just what has been destroyed in Syria's once beautiful city of Aleppo once Islamic State extremists started to lay siege.

Photos from immigrants who have moved to Australia show that even just three years ago, the lives of Syrians in the city such as the Aleppo, is the middle-eastern nation's north, were not far off what is enjoyed in the West.

They enjoyed joyous occasions like those of the Beloune family's birthday parties, Christmas celebrations and day-trips to some of Syria's attractions, many which are now in ruin.

Johnny Beloune, 37, and his wife Carol, 32, and their two children Joseph, 12, and Wendy, 8, left behind a bullet-riddled home in Syria's biggest city.

Regular Sunday lunch get-togethers with friends in Aleppo was a highlight for the Beloune family. 'This was about 10 kilometres out of the city,' said Johnny Beloune, 'it is not open anymore, it is in a terrible area'. In contrast is the picture at right, where men clear a restaurant from rubble following an air-strike in the al-Sukari neighbourhood of Aleppo

Wendy Beloune, 8, pictured with classmates at the The Rosary School of Aleppo before it was taken over by Islamic State militants in 2012

It's a city torn apart with militants and military factions fighting for control, amid a backdrop of bombing raids.

The Beloune family was 'very comfortable' with a nice home and thriving business but it was where they spent months sleeping on the floor as IS wrought havoc.

Mr Beloune provided a rare insight of how families spent their days in Aleppo, a cosmopolitan mix and relaxed lifestyle before all hell broke loose in 2011.

While most refugees leave with just the clothes on their back and telecommunications is sporadic at the best of times to enable loved ones to send updates and images, he was able to take memories with him on a laptop.

The Maronite Cathedral lit up at night in the Djeideh quarter of al-Farhat square in Aleppo,. It was built in 1873 and (at right) is now little else but a burnt-out shell

Johnny's sister Carol (left) pictured with the family at Wendy's baptism dinner at one of Aleppo's most renowned restaurant, 'it was a beautiful ancient place which was destroyed' said Mr Beloune

The Beloune children Joseph and Wendy (left) pictured at a restaurant near the shopping mall precinct in Aleppo in 2010, which has been destroyed. Shahba Mall (above right) was one of the largest commercial shopping centres in Syria and was brought down by air-strikes in October 2014

Damaged beyond repair: Aleppo's largest commercial shopping centre, Shahba Mall was hit by air-strikes in October 2014

Aleppo Castle pictured in 2009 before it was torn apart. This is an image of Carol Beloune's aunt and uncle. They have also relocated, to Canada. Smoke rises from around the Citadel of Aleppo (right) after a battle between Damascus Front forces attack and regime forces

Birthday celebrations for Joseph Beloune at a local restaurant with family and friends in 2010, the year before his family was forced to flee Aleppo in Syria. The restaurant has since been destroyed according to the family's accounts

While perusing his electronic photo album he recalled the peace and tranquility around Aleppo as being 'very normal'.

'Yes we had a good life there, I would go to the gym in the morning and then have breakfast at home before going to the office going home,' he said.

'I would go home for a quick lunch with Carol and then work until about 8pm and then go out with neighbours or my parents to restaurants.

'We would go to the movies and then on Sundays for lunch or to the swimming pools, always we went outside.'

He said that 'is all gone'.

His happy recollections contrast markedly with images of destruction which are the only ones which make their way out of the region now.

An image of Vialat Street home to Johnny Beloune's parents. It remains largely intact because it is still under control of pro-Syrian government forces, while buildings at the far end of the street have been badly damaged by bombs and looted by Islamic State, including Johnny Beloune's water systems business

Joseph Beloune outside the Samaan Castle some 70 kilometres out of Aleppo on the road to Al Raqqah. It too has sustained heavy damage during the war in Syria

The two families gather at the Syrian Catholic Church in Aleppo for Wendy's baptism in 2008. It too is another statistic of the battle for control of Aleppo

Restaurants where they happily celebrated birthdays and baptisms, no longer stand.

The Shahba Mall shopping mall, once the commercial pride of Aleppo and where they would spend time, is shattered beyond recognition.

The local primary school attended by Johnny's eight-year-old daughter Wendy is now under the control of IS thugs.

'The worst day was day after when Islamic State came to our street, and were shouting and then shooting for about five hours,' he revealed.

'We were stuck at home, all we could do was try to do something for the kids so they were not scared.

'On that day we thought it would be maybe for a couple of months and then come back to normal but it wasn't.'

Not all the damage has been wrought by Daesh, with fighting involving government and rebel forces causing just as much heartache.

In one family snap, the Aleppo castle is seen in all its grandeur behind Carol's aunt and uncle, whereas rubble is its most stark feature.

It's a similar tale in the once beautiful north-eastern city of al-Raqqah as militants took control of it and set about removing its history.

The Beloune children celebrate Christmas at the family home in Aleppo in 2010. Less than a year later they were forced to flee when Islamic State militants arrived. (At right) Wendy Beloune celebrates her birthday with her family in August 2010. Just over a year later their home was badly damaged when jihadists fired on it one night when they were sleeping

'It was very normal'. One of the few swimming pool/restaurant complexes which has survived the battle for control of Syria's northern regions. Mr Beloune and his children pictured at La Takia. (Right) Johnny with Carol and Joseph at the Blue Lagoon Water Park he helped develop. It was ruined in the early days of the war in Aleppo

Joseph Beloune pictured in his bedroom. On the night in 2011 when IS militants began shooting into the family home his parents rushed to him and his younger sister to try and keep them calm

'One day we received bullets in our bedroom so we lay on the ground, we tried to get down and get to our kids and told them to stay on the ground.

'We spent the last couple of months sleeping on the floor, there was no electricity, no water, it was a war zone.'

Mr Beloune said the speed in which their world was turned upside down was stunning.

'It changed very quickly in a couple of months, and when it started happening very quickly it all collapsed,' he said.

They fled to Lebanon, all the while thinking it would be temporary and he had planned to go back to Aleppo.

'But then I found that Islamic (State) groups took all my stock, I had $1 million worth of stock so I knew then I couldn't go back and we applied to the Australian embassy,' he said.

'My parents and sister are still living there, the problem is not all the people have the ability to leave, not all can afford to pay to leave.

'I know two of my clients have been killed ... it's not easy but I am starting again.

'I was a businessman there but I have to start from the bottom here but that's okay I will stand up again.'

Where Syrian residents would take leisurely walks through Aleppo just a few years back, now fighting between various factions including the Free Syria Army and Islamic militants dominate the landscape

Mr Beloune's Water Systems showroom before it was looted by IS extremists in 2012. Johnny Beloune's Water Systems showroom. It has been badly damaged by jihadists who also looted more than $1 million in stock and equipment