The Aleppo Project
read moreThe relentless pummelling of Sheikh Maqsoud has devastated the lives of civilians in the area. A wide array of armed groups from the Fatah Halab coalition has launched what appear to be repeated indiscriminate attacks that may amount to war crimes,” Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International.
2016
All posts from 2016
Civilians Under Fire, The Aleppo Weekly, May 4-9
by The Aleppo Project on May 10, 2016Fighting raged in and around Aleppo despite attempts to re-instate the ceasefire.
Increased bombing on both sides of the city killed numerous civilians and caused state school exams and classes to be suspended in western Aleppo most of last week. The pro-Assad Liwa al-Quds Brigade, composed of Palestinian Syrian fighters from Aleppo, announced it had lost 46 fighters in a tunnel bombing in Zahraa District on the city’s western outskirts on 3 May.
Fighting was particularly intense in the countryside south of Aleppo, where rebel groups captured the strategic town of Khan Touman, 23 civilians were killed in an air strike on Oum al-Karameel, and Afghan militia fighters and 13 Iranian Revolutionary Guards “advisors” were killed.
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Syrian refugee students rebuild from Beirut
by Sean Coughlan on May 4, 2016read more“It is hard to have much hope for Aleppo,” says the project’s blog. “One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world has been torn apart by war.
“Rebuilding will take many decades, but it can start very suddenly. When that moment comes, it is important to be ready.”
Hospitals Under Attack. The Aleppo Weekly, April 26 – May 3
by The Aleppo Project on May 3, 2016Government and rebel forces bombed a number of hospitals and clinics in Aleppo over the past several days.
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#AleppoIsBurning
by The Aleppo Project on May 2, 2016
The last two weeks of April 2016 will have sealed the connection between Aleppo and war for many decades to come. Just as the words Beirut and car bomb are inextricably linked, so will be Aleppo and barrel bomb. Certain places become tied to the pitiless nature of war: Hiroshima, Dresden, Biafra, Sarajevo, Stalingrad, Hue. And now Aleppo.
Aleppo’s war will be remembered for the immediacy with which the world has seen its horrors. No longer does it take time for us to know about the bombing of the Al Quds Hospital as it is live tweeted. Just hours later it was possible to see chilling images of Dr. Mohammad Massim Maaz, the last pediatrician at work in eastern Aleppo, walking between wards just before the government killed him in an airstrike.
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The Ceasefire in Aleppo Should not Fall
by Armenak Tokmajyan on April 27, 2016After a relative calm, an escalation looms on the frontier. The rebels are getting ready to confront any possible siege of Aleppo while tensions between Jabhet an-Nusra and the regime escalate south of Aleppo. The Syrian Prime Minister Wael Halaqi’s announcement that the government plans to liberate Aleppo with the help of the Russian Air Force presages more violence. It also follows several warnings from the speaker of the High Negotiations Committee Bassma Kodmani that the ceasefire is about to collapse. The High Negotiations Committee suspended its participation in the Geneva talks to protest against the escalation on the ground. De Mistura, who is scheduled to brief the Security Council on April 27, recently insisted that the ceasefire was still 70 per cent holding. The facts on the ground have changed a lot in a short time. On April 26, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in Vienna he was “deeply concerned about developments on the ground.” Will the ceasefire fall apart in Aleppo?
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The Aleppo Weekly, April 18-25
by The Aleppo Project on April 26, 2016World: whatever you are doing, stop and pay attention. Today has been the worst day in Syria for over a year. Attacks are everywhere. The White Helmets. 22 April 2016.
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Mapping Aleppo
by The Aleppo Project on April 26, 2016We need the help of all Aleppians who can use this site. Each person who lived in the city has their own maps of Aleppo in their heads. These might be places you lived, went to school, worked or visited family. They might be places that you remember with a light heart — cafes where you spent time with friends, parks where you played with your children, a quiet spot for contemplation amid the noise of a busy city. They might now be places of sadness as the city has been so damaged by war. We want to know about your Aleppo so that we can document not just the buildings and streets but the meaning of the city to its residents and its past life.
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The Aleppo Weekly, April 12-17
by The Aleppo Project on April 18, 2016read moreOrdinary Syrian people are going to extraordinary lengths, risking everything to protect their heritage, despite the horror that has engulfed their country. For them, it is not a question of people or stones. The story of the people is embedded in those stones, a crafted story stretching back millennia. Saving that story is saving Syria. Dr. Emma Cunliffe. Research Associate, Oxford University.
The Aleppo Weekly, April 5-11
by The Aleppo Project on April 12, 2016In My Beloved Aleppo, Sawsan Ibrahim collects 648 photos of the Old City, downtown and residential districts in central and western Aleppo.
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