HOMS, Syria (AP) — Sumaya Bairuty walked through abandoned streets pocked with shell craters amid rows of destroyed buildings, at times climbing over giant sand barriers before reaching her parent's apartment in the once rebel-held district of Bab Dreib in this central Syrian city.

The 38-year-old English-language teacher, who works in Damascus, comes to Homs by bus once a week to spend two days with her parents, who live alone in their newly repaired apartment in the heavily destroyed and mostly deserted area.

It has been almost four years since the last rebels and civilians withdrew from str...