Grieving for Aleppo, One Year After Its Fall

Last autumn, we watched as Bashar al-Assad pummeled the life out of east Aleppo. His barrel bombs collapsed stone apartment buildings into concrete slabs, crushing their inhabitants between the layers. Those who survived were left with hunger, disease, and despair. Death surrounded them. With devastating detail, the siege taught us the full meaning of “kneel or starve,” the Syrian president’s strategy for defeating “the terrorists”—basically, anyone who opposed him. In mid-December, the Assad regime’s menacing green busses forcefully evacuated tens of thousands of civilians to Idlib, where local humanitarians scrambled to erect enough plastic tents for the families as snow began to fall.

Forced evacuation of east Aleppo was war crime, says UN

The United Nations has accused the Syrian government of deliberately attacking an aid convoy near Aleppo last September, and labeled a forced evacuation of opposition-held parts of the east of the city as a “war crime”.

In a report covering the capture of Aleppo by forces supporting the Syrian regime, the UN also accused Damascus of repeatedly using chemical weapons and cluster munitions, and systematically destroying hospitals.

Syrian Military Pounded Rebel-Held Aleppo With Chemical Weapons: Report

The Syrian military pounded parts of eastern Aleppo with chemical weapons during its offensive to retake the city at the end of last year, according to a new report published by international watchdog Human Rights Watch on Monday.

There are at least eight instances in which Syrian army helicopters dropped chlorine on opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo, according to the testimony of more than 20 witnesses and an analysis of video footage, photographs and social media posts, Human Rights Watch says. The attacks killed nine people and took place between Nov. 17 and Dec. 13, 2016, in the final stages of the battle for the city. Around 200 people were injured.

The Russian Media and the Fall of Aleppo

The shocking murder of Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, generated a swell of outrage across Russia, much of which would sound familiar to Americans. Karlov was widely described as a patriot and skilled diplomat. “He was killed carrying out his duties,” said the chairman of the Russian parliament’s lower house, which observed a moment of silence for Karlov. Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the attack an act of terror. President Vladimir Putin condemned it as a blow against the Russo-Turkish relationship and the “peace process in Syria.” Similar or identical formulations have been repeated across Russia’s state-run media, where most Russians get their information.

The World Failed Aleppo, But It Can Still Save Its Displaced Residents

“Aleppo has become a ghost city. The world has abandoned us.”

That’s what my family, friends and colleagues on the ground who I grew up with kept telling me about my hometown of Aleppo these last few months. A once vibrant city is now reduced to rubble.

Beginning with the implementation of a siege on the eastern part of the city in July, the estimated 250,000 people of eastern Aleppo have endured immeasurable hardships at the hands of the regime and its allies ― starvation, constant bombardment, alleged chemical attacks and lack of access to medical care. And the list goes on and on. Through all of these events, which were well documented by first responders and published in many media outlets worldwide, the international community failed to provide humanitarian assistance and protection for the innocent civilians in the city.

The 'Palestinisation' of the Syrian people

In solidarity with Aleppo, the lights on the Eiffel Tower were extinguished. Elsewhere in Paris, and in London, Amsterdam, Oslo and Copenhagen, people demonstrated against the slaughter. Turks rallied outside Russian and Iranian embassies and consulates in Istanbul, Ankara and Erzurum. The people of Sarajevo, who have their own experience of genocide, staged a big protest.

Aleppo evacuations resume after buses attacked and burned

The evacuation of east Aleppo has resumed, with about 350 people able to leave a rebel-held pocket of the city on Sunday, according to medical officials.

The move came despite the official postponement of evacuations of civilians and fighters from the devastated Syrian city and as the UN security council prepared to vote on a resolution to deploy observers to the city, with Syria-allied Russia giving cautious backing to the measure.

What The Fall Of Aleppo Means For Syria’s Civil War

After years under rebel control, the Syrian city of Aleppo has now effectively fallen to pro-government troops and army forces. Thousands of residents are now being bussed out of the city and face an uncertain future.

The loss of Aleppo leaves Syria’s opposition at one of its weakest points since the nation’s peaceful protests turned into an armed uprising in 2011. Rebel groups now lack control of any major urban center and have dim prospects for retaking significant territory anytime soon.

The World, Not Just Assad, Is to Blame for Aleppo Tragedy

"You bear responsibility for these atrocities," US Ambassador Samantha Power said to the Bashar al-Assad regime, Russia and Iran at Tuesday's UN Security Council emergency briefing on Syria. She was referring to the mass atrocities committed against Syrian civilians in eastern Aleppo, including 82 people who were gruesomely executed by pro-government forces on Monday. While Power was correct in her anger toward a regime that has killed over 400,000 people and displaced millions in the last five years, she was wrong to insinuate that the international community, including the US, is excused from blame.

UN Human Rights Office reports “slaughter” in Aleppo: At least 82 civilians killed by pro-government forces

As pro-government forces invade the neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo, Syria, reports of civilian bloodshed have reached the United Nations. The UN Human Rights Office announced Tuesday that more than 80 civilians have been killed in the region “either by intense bombardment or summary execution” by pro-government forces.

Multiple sources have reported that pro-Government forces killed at least 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children, in the Bustan al-Qasr, al-Ferdous, al-Kallaseh, and al-Saleheen neighborhoods yesterday,” the UN Human Rights Office reported.

Aleppo battle: UN says civilians shot on the spot

Syrian pro-government forces in eastern Aleppo have been killing people, including women and children, on the spot in their homes and on the street, the United Nations says.

The UN's human rights office said streets were full of bodies.

Meanwhile, the UN children's agency cited a doctor as saying a building housing as many as 100 unaccompanied children was under heavy attack.

Aleppo: Assad forces within 'moments' of retaking city amid reports of atrocities

Residents of east Aleppo have sent out desperate messages imploring the international community to save civilians in besieged districts of the Syrian city, as forces loyal to the president, Bashar al-Assad, bear down on the remaining enclaves still controlled by the opposition.

The rebellion of Aleppo appeared to be in its death throes as Assad’s troops and Iranian-backed militias took control of the vast majority of the territory once held by the opposition, coming within sight of a crucial victory in the war that has cost tens of thousands of lives over four and a half years.

Aleppo: Assad forces within 'moments' of retaking city amid reports of atrocities

Residents of east Aleppo have sent out desperate messages imploring the international community to save civilians in besieged districts of the Syrian city, as forces loyal to the president, Bashar al-Assad, bear down on the remaining enclaves still controlled by the opposition.

The rebellion of Aleppo appeared to be in its death throes as Assad’s troops and Iranian-backed militias took control of the vast majority of the territory once held by the opposition, coming within sight of a crucial victory in the war that has cost tens of thousands of lives over four and a half years.

Syria’s Aleppo Falling: Moscow Is a Player in the Region Again

By Monday morning Syrian time, the large and important district of Shaikh Saeed in southeastern Aleppo had completely fallen to the Syrian Arab Army and its allies among the Shiite militias of Lebanon and Iraq.

Shaikh Saeed collapsed under the weight of extremely intensive aerial bombardment by Russian fighter jets, which aided ground advances by the Syrian Arab Army and its Shiite militia allies.  Amid talk of Russian interference in the US elections, it should be remembered that Russia decided some 15 months ago to become the arbiter of Syria’s fate in a very serious way.

Syria army pounds Aleppo rebels; Russia vows no let-up

Syrian warplanes launched heavy raids on the last rebel-held districts in Aleppo as key regime ally Russia vowed the assault would continue until opposition fighters left the battleground city.

Syria's army is three weeks into a battle to retake east Aleppo from rebels, who are now confined to just a few neighbourhoods in their former bastion.

Aleppo Displaced Hide Out In Last Rebel Districts As Army Closes In

BEIRUT ― Years of siege conditions mean the citizens living in rebel-held parts of Aleppo are accustomed to danger, fear and tragedy. But as the Syrian army close in on the ruined streets of the Old City, they face some unbearable choices.

“I feel this is the end,” Reem, a mother of two children, said via patchy internet connection from a rebel held district of the historic city center. Cold and a lack of water had made her children ill and the family was surviving on one meal a day.

Theresa May joins condemnation of Russia over Aleppo bombings

Theresa May has joined Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and the leaders of France, Canada and Italy to jointly condemn Russia over its role in the humanitarian disaster “taking place before our very eyes” in Aleppo.

In the statement, the six leaders criticised the Syrian government “and its foreign backers, especially Russia”, for attacks on civilians and obstructing humanitarian aid.

Russia vows to save Aleppo from 'terrorists'

Moscow will continue military operations in the besieged and battered eastern part of Aleppo until the city is "cleared of terrorists", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference on a visit to Turkey after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in the Mediterranean town of Alanya, Lavrov said Russia would continue efforts to allow humanitarian aid into Aleppo and acknowledged the need for a truce.

Eastern Aleppo becoming 'one giant graveyard' says UN humanitarian chief

The UN’s humanitarian chief has warned that eastern Aleppo was being turned into “one giant graveyard” as the rebel-held area was being overrun by Syrian regime and Russian forces.

Stephen O’Brien told an emergency session of the UN security council that since Saturday 25,000 people had been forced from their homes in eastern Aleppo, more than half of them children, as the government offensive stormed into opposition districts.

Aleppo families fear for 500 men seized by forces loyal to Assad

Residents of east Aleppo have said they hold grave fears for as many as 500 men who were seized by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad as they overran opposition strongholds in the city.

Three families contacted by the Guardian said there had been no word from their sons and nephews who had been arrested in the Masakan Hanano district, which fell on Sunday to Iraqi and Lebanese militias within hours of the biggest ground offensive of the war being launched.