Syrian city of Aleppo under siege

… Millard describes reporting in Aleppo: “I was in Aleppo about two weeks ago, arriving the day before the ceasefire came into effect … It is a charred and battle-scarred urban landscape which winds through a perimeter of destroyed factories and apartment blocks, before opening out into the relatively intact busy heart of what was once the country’s economic hub and most populous city… Our movements were tightly controlled by the Syrian government… It was impossible for us to reach eastern Aleppo, which aid agencies describe as a far more desperate parallel universe.”

Millard summed up the mood in government-held areas: “Overall, I would say the mood was one of war weariness and pessimism. Few Syrians we spoke to believed that the war would end any time soon. Most recognise that their country has become a battleground for regional and geopolitical rivalries, in which foreign powers are fighting in Syria to pursue their own agendas.”

The siege of eastern Aleppo today is like Stalingrad or Dresden. But it is playing out in front of the world on Snapchat, on Twitter, on WhatsApp. We can see the carnage unfold, but aside from increasingly strong statements and the commitment of funds to aid we can’t deliver, the international community continues to bomb those we perceive are our enemies. The Russians continue to bomb theirs – some of whom we, as part of the US-led coalition, support. And the civilians who can’t flee, they continue to die.

Read the full article, The Saturday Paper, HERE
John Martinkus, The Saturday Paper