Aleppo’s civilians cry out for help amid carnage

By Mahmoud Barakat

ALEPPO, Syria

Civilians in besieged eastern districts of Syria’s northwestern city of Aleppo are appealing for help amid ongoing attacks by the Assad regime and Iran-backed Shia militias.

According to local sources, residents of eastern Aleppo continue to struggle with hunger and the risk of disease due to an acute lack of food, medical care and equipment.

"The situation in Aleppo is getting worse. Nothing like this has happened in history. Attacks continue day and night by both warplanes and artillery," Aleppo resident Mohamed Khalifa said.

Zahir Mustafa, another city resident, said the Syrian regime and Russian airpower continued to target Aleppo’s hospitals and civil defense centers.

"There is no water, no food," he said, noting that many local families had fled Aleppo’s besieged eastern districts to the relatively safer west side of the city.

Joud al-Khatib, yet another local resident, said the civilian population’s suffering was increasing day by day amid continued attacks.

"We’re facing severe shortfalls of food and other basic commodities," he lamented.

Al-Khatib said food and other basic supplies were no longer available in the city’s besieged eastern districts, pointing out that children and the elderly were bearing the brunt of the commodity shortfalls.

"There’s a chronic shortage of medicine and medical personnel, along with equipment needed for performing surgeries," he said.

"The bloodshed has continued until this moment without any genuine attempt to stop it by the international community," he added.

Located some 40 kilometers from the Turkish border, Aleppo is Syria’s second largest city after capital Damascus.

Since mid-November, the regime and its allies have stepped up their attacks on opposition-held parts of Aleppo, reportedly causing hundreds of civilian deaths and thousands of injuries.

The fierce bombardments have forced most of the city’s hospitals to halt operations while most academic activities have been indefinitely suspended.

The recent escalations come amid attempts by the Russia-backed Assad regime to wrest control of eastern parts of Aleppo that were captured by armed opposition groups four years ago.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which had erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.