"Every day, dozens of photos taken by stringers in Syria land at the photo editing desk in Nicosia, AFP’s headquarters for the Middle East and North Africa. Sometimes, we get hundreds. Like on March 13, when we got 350. It’s been like this for years," writes Christian Chaise, director for the region.

"On March 15, the Syrian conflict entered its eighth year. Since the beginning, AFP has been one of the very few international outlets to maintain constant on-the-ground coverage. To pull this off, we have a network of stringers that we built over the course of several years. This is probably unequalled among major foreign media outlets."

But before publication, their photos and videos go through a rigorous verification process by editors in Nicosia.

"Every day, they take turns editing, verifying, and authenticating every photo and video that we publish. It’s a process that’s as long and tedious as it is essential."