meeting nowhere, no before and after

.

People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr, Syria on Thursday: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016

People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr, Syria on Thursday: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016

#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

In the uncertain hour before the morning
     Near the ending of interminable night
     At the recurrent end of the unending
After the dark dove with the flickering tongue
     Had passed below the horizon of his homing
     While the dead leaves still rattled on like tin
Over the asphalt where no other sound was
     Between three districts whence the smoke arose
     I met one walking, loitering and hurried
As if blown towards me like the metal leaves
     Before the urban dawn wind unresisting.
     And as I fixed upon the down-turned face
That pointed scrutiny with which we challenge
     The first-met stranger in the waning dusk
     I caught the sudden look of some dead master
Whom I had known, forgotten, half recalled
     Both one and many; in the brown baked features
     The eyes of a familiar compound ghost
Both intimate and unidentifiable.
     So I assumed a double part, and cried
     And heard another's voice cry: 'What! are you here?'
Although we were not. I was still the same,
     Knowing myself yet being someone other --
     And he a face still forming; yet the words sufficed
To compel the recognition they preceded.
     And so, compliant to the common wind,
     Too strange to each other for misunderstanding,
In concord at this intersection time
     Of meeting nowhere, no before and after,
     We trod the pavement in a dead patrol.

T.S. Eliot (1888-1965): from Little Gidding (1942)

[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

 

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning: "It's like an apocalypse"

 
Government forces bombed the city of Aleppo: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 28 April 2016 

People walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The death toll from an upsurge of fighting in Syria’s second city rose despite a plea by the UN envoy for the warring sides to respect a February ceasefire.: photo by Ameer Alhalbi / AFP, 28 April 2016

Syria's truce is over as airstrikes destroy Aleppo hospital: With at least 27 patients and staff reported dead, UN says urgent aid is needed amid multiple breaches of ceasefire: Kareem Shaheen i Beirut and Ian Black in London for the Guardian, 28 April 2016

Syria’s eight-week truce was dead in all but name on Thursday after airstrikes destroyed an Aleppo hospital backed by Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Committee of the Red Cross, killing patients and doctors.

After today's attacks in #Syria, @hcoster on why warring factors target hospitals: image via Reuters Opinion @ReutersOpinion, 28 April 2016

Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, declared the cessation of hostilities agreement brokered by the US and Russia “barely alive”. Jan Egeland, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator, warned of a “catastrophic deterioration” in Aleppo in the past 24 to 48 hours.

 #Aleppo #Syria #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

No date has been agreed to resume suspended peace talks in Geneva, but De Mistura urged Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin to work to restore the truce and permit urgent humanitarian deliveries. In the past 48 hours there has been an average of one Syrian civilian killed every 25 minutes, and one wounded every 13 minutes.

 

#Syria People leaving after a reported airstrike in #Aleppo #AFP  photo by @baraaalhalabi Aleppo #AFP: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY 28 April 2016

MSF said 14 patients and staff members including two doctors were killed in al-Quds hospital. One doctor was the last paediatrician in the rebel-held part of Aleppo. The opposition Higher Negotiations Committee said the attack killed at least 27 in total, including three children.

 

"There's no truce here" - for battered Aleppo residents, the Syria ceasefire is already dead:  image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

It fit a pattern of systematic targeting of hospitals by the government of Bashar al-Assad, as the situation in Syria’s divided commercial capital grows more desperate. Schools, markets and a search and rescue centre have also been hit in the past week.

UPDATE: "dozens dead" in Aleppo clashes: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

The French news agency AFP reported an anonymous Syrian official as saying the army was preparing to launch a massive offensive to retake the entire city in the coming days.

 

"There's no truce here" - for battered Aleppo residents, the Syria ceasefire is already dead:  image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016

Syrian rebels blamed Assad and his ally Russia for multiple breaches of the truce. Philip Hammond, the UK foreign secretary, said: “Now is the time for those with influence to apply real pressure to end this spiral of violence. Russia has set itself up as protector of the Assad regime, so it has a duty to bring its full influence to bear.”

#bombing_hospital_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016

Muskilda Zancada, the group’s head of mission, said: “MSF categorically condemns this outrageous targeting of yet another medical facility in Syria. This devastating attack has destroyed a vital hospital in Aleppo, and the main referral centre for paediatric care in the area. Where is the outrage among those with the power and obligation to stop this carnage?”

#Bombing_hospitals_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016

A US state department official said it appeared that the bombing was conducted solely by the Syrian regime, after Russia’s defence ministry denied that its planes were involved, saying it had carried out no airstrikes there in recent days. Both air forces have carried out almost all the aerial strikes on the opposition-controlled east of the city. 

#Bombing_hospitals_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016

Further airstrikes on Thursday on the rebel-held part of the city killed 20 people and brought down at least one residential building, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The UK-based monitor said shelling by insurgents of government-held areas killed at least 14.

 #Aleppo #Syria #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

“It’s like an apocalypse,” said Bara Abu Saleh, a councillor in a rebel-held area, speaking on Skype as explosions were heard. “Today around 25 people have been killed in different areas. Just now a rocket landed close but it didn’t explode.”

#FuckTheHumanity #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

Staff described how the first missiles struck the hospital. “That’s when the massacre happened,” said Saeed Hallaq, a nurse. “It was an awful, frightening scene. The bombing was at night and there were planes in the air so the civil defence workers couldn’t do anything. They cut the electricity and work began to bring the martyrs and the wounded out of the ground. It was difficult and took hours. Some of them, we only found the pieces.”

#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

One of the dead was Mohammad Wassim Muadh, a paediatrician. “He was the definition of humanity and kindness,” said Hallaq. “Wherever he went he left a good memory and he was also the most polite and kind person I ever met in my life.” 

[Aleppo is burning] Aftermath of government attacks #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

Muadh barely had a funeral, Hallaq said, because people feared government planes would target any gathering. “Our one and only call is to keep neutral the hospitals and centres that are helping civilians.”

[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

Large-scale fighting erupted in and around Aleppo over the weekend, with more than 100 dead in the surrounding province, further weakening the truce agreed between non-jihadi rebels and government forces on 27 February.

[Aleppo, today]: image via @Fouadhallak89, 28 April 2016

Egeland told reporters in Geneva that the catastrophic deterioration in Aleppo over the last 24-48 hours had jeopardised the aid lifeline that delivers supplies to millions of Syrians. “I could not in any way express how high the stakes are for the next hours and days.”

 

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

Abu Saleh described food shortages with truckers struggling to deliver 4,000 tonnes of wheat because Kurdish forces were firing on vehicles on the only road linking the city to other rebel-held areas. Civilians are growing vegetables on rooftops and in gardens but a lack of fuel makes it hard to supply them with water.

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

After a period of relative normality, many residents hid again when the bombing restarted. But various shops were still open, and some were trying to carry on with daily life. “People are determined to live their lives,” said Abu Saleh. “The people who are in Aleppo now are people who decided to stay here. We used to look at people in Gaza and wonder how they live their lives normally -– but now we know.”

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

The Syrian government considers any medical facilities in opposition-held territory as legitimate military targets, claiming they are de facto illegal. Hospitals in opposition-held areas are refusing to share GPS coordinates with Russian and Syrian authorities because of repeated attacks on medical facilities and workers. Intense diplomatic activity is expected over the coming days as pressure mounts for a ministerial meeting of the major and regional powers that make up the International Syria Support Group.

#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

The Syrian opposition insists Assad must step down, while the government in Damascus says his role is not up for negotiation. The war, now in its sixth year, is estimated to have killed 400,000 people and has made millions homeless.

[Aleppo, today]: image via @Fouadhallak89, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

 

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

[Aleppo is burning] Aftermath of government attacks #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
 

US, UN condemn Syria hospital bombing in war-ravaged Aleppo: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016 

Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016


  
Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016

#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016

A boy flies his kite at sunset at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni. Some 54,000 people, many of them fleeing the war in Syria, have been stranded on Greek territory since the closure of the migrant route through the Balkans in February.: photo by Joe Klamar / AFP, 28 April 2016