Qusayr , Syria ( CNN ) -- Qusayr is a ghost town these days . Only a few people can be seen scavenging through the rubble hoping to find anything worth salvaging from the carcasses of residential buildings in this war-ravaged city in western Syria . But there is n't very much to salvage after a major government offensive ousted rebels from the city , which is strategically located near the border with Lebanon and very close to the main highway connecting Damascus to Syria 's coast and to northern cities like Aleppo . `` Of course we want to come back here , '' an elderly man told me . `` We are hoping for government support to make this Qusayr worth living in again . '' The man 's name is George . He said his family have just returned after fleeing to the city of Homs when rebels took over the town more than a year ago . George was cleaning up his house and led me through ransacked rooms . `` They stole everything , '' he said . He means the anti-government forces , whom the Assad government labels as terrorists but are supported by many Western and Middle Eastern countries . George then showed me a hole in the roof . `` Rocket . '' That was his only word as we looked up at the sun that now shone in through the gap in his ceiling . The opposition took over control of Qusayr in February 2012 . The town became an important supply hub for weapons for rebel fighters in central Syria because of its proximity to the Jordanian border . It is also important for the government because it is located near a vital supply line for the Syrian military fighting in Idlib , Aleppo and other places in the region . After a long siege of the city by pro-Assad forces , Syria 's military enlisted the help of Hezbollah , the radical Islamist Shiite militia from Lebanon . Assad 's army and Hezbollah forces launched an offensive in early June of this year and re-took Qusayr on June 5 . But the cost of re-taking the city was clearly immense . Driving through town we could not find a single building left unscathed . In the central square , the iconic clock tower was destroyed . An ancient mosque had also suffered several direct hits with a gaping hole left in the minaret . And the city 's only church had substantial damage both inside and out with some of the icons defaced . Syrian military personnel on the ground claim Islamic rebels are to blame . A senior commander later showed us on a map how the army moved into Qusayr . `` First we surrounded the city and then we attacked it from all sides . And of course we killed a lot of them and there were a lot of wounded , '' he recalled . `` The rest of them ran away through the valleys and the mountains , mostly to Lebanon . And now we can announce that Qusayr and its suburbs are totally cleansed of Islamist fighters . '' The town might be `` cleansed , '' as the officer put it , but in many places in and around Qusayr , the earth is literally scorched . Most of those now returning to the town are Christians , highlighting the increasingly sectarian nature of the conflict in Syria . George is a Christian as well . He says his son was kidnapped by Islamist fighters and he clearly blames some of his Sunni Muslim neighbors for collaborating with the opposition . `` We have been living with the Muslims for generations , '' his wife said as we stood in their ruined apartment . `` I do n't know why they did this , why they helped them . '' George also took us to his brother 's house , which was almost razed to the ground . Many of the rooms were burned from the inside . George said his brother fled when one of his sons was killed by rebel fighters . `` My brother is an engineer . His son came to the door and they shot him because they think all Christians are against them , '' George tells me . Both George and his wife say they could forgive their neighbors but it is hard to see how this community , which before the crisis was majority Sunni Muslim with a substantial Christian minority , could ever go back to what it used to be , even if more people return . The opposition has called the Syrian military 's offensive a massacre and called for the international community to intervene . Meanwhile the Assad government blames the rebels for the carnage in Qusayr and says it intervened because of pleas from the population . No matter who is at fault , Qusayr is completely destroyed -- a once peaceful community on the Syrian-Lebanese border that might never be restored again .
CNN forces re-took city on Islamist border from the rebels . Strategically located along main highway connecting Damascus to Damascus 's coast . George , a Islamist , was caught up in what is becoming a sectarian conflict . He says much of the damage in the city was caused by Lebanese rebels .