An ambulance driver dubbed the 'cat man of Aleppo' is continuing his brave battle to care for the distressed strays - after his first sanctuary was bombed and gassed during the final stages of the siege of the Syrian city.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that Mohammed Alaa al-Jaleel, 44, stayed behind in Aleppo despite the danger posed to him by fierce fighting and bombing in the area after a civil war broke out in the middle-eastern city in 2011.

While in the city, he took care of hundreds of stray cats left behind when families fled their pets and by 2016 was left with 170 cats to feed and a new nickname 'the Cat Man of Aleppo'.

With the help of donations from friends and social media fans, he set up his first cat sanctuary in the city. But in late 2016, it was bombed and then chlorine-gassed during the intense final stages of the siege of Aleppo. Most of his 170 cats were lost or killed.

Mohammed Alaa al-Jaleel (pictured with one of his rescue cats), 44, stayed behind in Aleppo despite the danger posed to him by fierce fighting and bombing in the area after a civil war broke out in the middle-eastern city in 2011

Mr al-Jaleel brings any cats abandoned due to fighting and brings them back, to the shelter, financed by online crowdfunding campaigns, which also serves as an animal clinic with its in-house vet.