As Aleppo falls to the Syrian army one photographer speaks of the horror of daily life and the terror of what may yet come.
ADVERTISEMENTTo gain more insight on the humanitarian situation on the ground in the city of Aleppo euronews contacted Salah al-Alashqar, a freelance photographer. He is now in the neighborhood of Seif al-Dawla, one eastern district shelled by Syrian regular forces.
Salah al-Alashqar:
“The situation in Aleppo is so bad and getting worse. The longer time passes, the more the suffering of civilians in besieged areas increases. The siege has been going on for 115 days so far in the areas still controlled by the Syrian armed opposition.
As a result of the entry of regime forces into the city and taking over control of a large section of the neighborhoods that were controlled by the opposition forces, there are many, many people crammed into a small area of about five neighborhoods.
The buildings and houses can no longer accommodate all the residents here. Now there are many families living in shops and streets, wherever they can. The weather is very cold now and rain is falling in addition to the shellfire which is almost constant over our heads
You can hear the noise of the fighting as I speak. The wounded can’t get appropriate treatment due to all the hospitals being bombed. Only one medical point where only first aid is available is operational. The seriously injured have nowhere to go, and these victims could join the fatalities list at any moment”.
Daleen Hassan :
“How many trapped people , fighters and civilians do you think there are?”
Salah al Alashkar :
“Well, according to Aleppo city council there are an estimated 75,000 people. I estimate around 15% of them are fighters”.
Daleen Hassan :
“In the evacuation process, will there be any guarantees given by the regime to ensure those people who were staying in opposition areas will not be persecuted?”
Salah al Alashkar :
“Well, I think that maybe there is a part of the agreement has not been announced yet. We cannot get out of the besieged areas with no guarantees, all the active medical staff and organizations working in Aleppo really need guarantees because most of them are wanted by the Syrian regime.
So far, we don’t have any confirmed information on who will be the guarantors. There are several leaks saying that there could be a Turkish organization to oversee the evacuation.
There are other leaks that say that the UN could control this process, also there is some information saying Russian troops will oversee the road between Aleppo and its surrounding countryside”.
Daleen Hassan :
“What do you expect in the coming days?”
Salah al Alashkar:
“To be honest with you and, without any exaggeration, women are afraid of the possible entry of the army and militias, they are afraid of gang rape, which has happened in some neighborhoods. Senior citizens fears being killed and younger men also fear arrest or execution”.