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PRESENT ALEPPO : THE UNKNOWN BATTLEFIELD CITY

PRESENT

What is Aleppo ?

Then & Now

Battle of Aleppo

Syria's second-largest metropolis

after the destroyed by Civil War

the most crucial of the Syrian civil war

ISSUE 01 2016 ISSUE 01

September 2016

WHAT IS ALEPPO ?

It was one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth.

What's the casualty toll?

Aleppo is A decade ago Aleppo was a bustling economic hub boasting more than 2 million residents. Its robust history and ancient architecture drew many tourists. After four years of hellish battle, it was estimated last month that the city was home to roughly one-tenth of that number, between 200,000 and 300,000.

Why the drop?

Brutal fighting, plain and simple.

Many residents were killed. Others fled. Those who remained have not received much aid and are suffering shortages of food, fuel and medicine, a situation that grew only more desperate in July when President Bashar Assad's forces bombarded a major supply artery into the city. The fighting presses on, and even after rebel forces claimed to break the siege in southern Aleppo, humanitarian groups say there's been little change to the residents' plight.

02 What is Aleppo ?

In Syria, it's an estimated quarter-million. There are also 5 million whohave fled the country, and 6.6 million people internally displaced. In Aleppo, the tolls are murkier. A recent report stated that 6,000 people, mostly civilians, died in 80 days of fighting. Last month, the last 15 doctors serving the eastern part of the city wrote President Barack Obama to say that a medical facility in Syria was being bombed every 17 hrs.

At that rate, medical services could be destroyed in a month, for "leaving 300,000 people to die," they wrote.

Who's dying? the violence is indiscriminate, as evidenced by a suspected chlorine gas attack that injured children and killed market patrons in the eastern part of the city. A barrel bomb attack also claimed children as victims a few weeks ago. Watchdog groups blamed both attacks on the Assad regime, which has denied using chlorine gas for military purposes in the past. What Aleppo parents tell their kids In another dis-

this one with a happier ending doctors which had to deliver the baby of a mother seriously injured in a bomb attack. The child wasn't breathing as he emerged from the womb, but doctors quickly got his lungs working. His mother survived, too.

Who is going to win?

We all know that war is a bitter experience that takes lives and ruins cultures, grinding them to dust. But sometimes we are desensitized to its true devastating effects, particularly in far flung places like the Middle East. The news makes it feel as though the region has always existed in harm, and has never enjoyed stability.

However, if you look at the these 14 images of Aleppo, Syria as it was prior to the Syrian civil war breaking out, then click on them to see what it looks like today, you will suddenly feel the astonishing and heartbreaking change that has ovecome

However, if you look at the these 12 images of Aleppo, Syria as it was prior to the Syrian civil war breaking out, then see what it looks like today, you will suddenly feel the astonishing and heartbreaking change that has overcome what was recently a perfectly normal nation. In 19 July 2012 an ongoing military confrontation began in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, as a part of the Syrian Civil War. It was marked by the Syrian army’s use of barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, killing thousands of people and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate.

Likely nobody. Reporting from such a violent locale can be tricky, but earlier this year, CNN's Clarissa Ward went undercover behind rebel lines to give a fascinating picture of what's happening on the ground. Months later, she would tell the UN Security Council point-blank, "There are no winners in Aleppo."

Is any end in sight?

Well, no. This week, diplomats, politicians and soldiers met in London to discuss the situation, but their plan was billed not as a blueprint for peace but a starting block for negotiations.

Then & Now ? 07

THEN & NOW

See how war has damaged Syria's cultural sites

The Citadel of Aleppo is a large medieval fortiďŹ ed palace in the centre of the old city of Aleppo, northern Syria. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium.

06 Then & Now

What is Aleppo ? 03

BATTLE OF ALEPPO the Chronology of the conflict (2012–present)

Second phase : goverment forces and allies cut off the castello Road

First phase : goverment forces and allies occupied a hiltop near al-Mallah Farms

Castello Road Third phase : government forces and allies encircled Aleppo

New Territtory gained by YPG/YPJ

New Territtory gained by goverment and ellie.

YPG/YPJ control

ALEPPO

Goverment control

Opposition control

Armed opposition offensiveto break the siege

New Territtory gained by the armed opposition

Siege of Aleppo (as of 17 August 2016)

Introduction

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

April-May 2011: Thousands of students demonstrate in Aleppo, a northern city that had been spared the sort of violent protests that erupted elsewhere in the country. The demos are swiftly crushed by students who back the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and security forces. Syria is suffering the brutal winter that followed the Arab Spring. This popular outpouring for social, economic and political change in the Middle East and North Africa started in Tunisia and has not ended yet despite the efforts of

July 20, 2012: Fierce fighting breaks out between the army and rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a group comprised of civilians and army deserters, in several city districts.

In August, troops backed by heavy artillery and warplanes secure central Christian neighbourhoods after a two-week offensive. Since then, the city has been divided between loyalist districts in the west and rebel-controlled areas in the east. Each side has tried to wear the other down. Aleppo province has become a theatre of

January 15, 2013: More than 80 people are killed in an Aleppo university massacre over which the regime and rebels accuse each other of responsibility, City landmarks destroyed. April 24, 2013: Months of fighting around the Ummayad mosque destroys its minaret, an architectural and cultural landmark. Both sides blame the other for the destruction. Other landmarks that have suffered are the souk, which was partially destroyed by fire in September 2012, and the UNECO-listed citadel, which was damaged by a

In August 2012, the experienced Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi took over Kofi Annan’s task of getting Syrians to a peace agreement. After months of diplomatic efforts, Ministers Kerry and Lavrov, on 7 May 2013, jointly announced that “all sides” involved in Syria should come together for a conference.[1] After several delays, mainly due to Russian-U.S. disagreements, the meeting was finally scheduled for 22 January 2014. In late July 2014, Human Rights Watch says the number of neighbourhoods hit by

By early 2015, the regime was focused on relieving the towns of Nubbul and al-Zahra. They had been under siege for three years. On 9 January, opposition forces advanced close to the towns under cover of bad weather that hindered air attacks.[1] The importance of these towns derives from their location. If the towns could be freed from the siege, government forces could also cut the Kilis Azaz Aleppo corridor, which was vital for the survival of the opposition.

Throughout January and the first half

The regime’s siege of Aleppo proved to be short-lived. On 6 August, the opposition, under the leadership of Ahrar ash-Sham and Jabhet Fatah ash-Sham (formerly JN) broke through government positions in the southwest of the city.[1] (See Map 39).

According to the spokesman of Ahrar ash-Sham, this took place in three phases, starting on 1 August and ending when opposition forces occupied the ar-Ramouseh Artillery complex and industrial district. In this way, the rebels successfully cut the

04 Battle of Aleppo

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