Bird song: the sound of eastern Aleppo's empty streets

'All I can hear, in this deserted, destroyed street, in a deserted, destroyed area, in a ruined city is bird song.'

These are the words of BBC Middle East Correspondent Jeremy Bowen who is currently in eastern Aleppo as he describes what is left behind in the city. 

Following the evacuation of the once besieged city, Bowen talks of the destroyed buildings, homes and streets that have now been left behind. 

He says: 'In many years of covering wars, the only place that comes close in terms of sheer destruction, for me, is Grozny in Chechenya, in the former Soviet Union which the Russian army pounded during the 1990s. Apart from that I’ve seen nothing like this.' 

Bombings and shooting can be heard in the background of his message as he ends his report with a reminder that, while it is over in eastern Aleppo, the war is continuing elsewhere in Syria.