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Sunday 1 May 2016

nobody's place in the line

.

 #Syria A family runs after a reported air strike in #Aleppo Photo Ameer Alhalbi #AFP: image via AFP Photo Ddepartment @AFPphoto, 29 April 2016

Residents flee as air strikes shake Syria's Aleppo: Karim al-Masri, AFP, 30 April 2016

Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - Terrified residents fled a new wave of air strikes on rebel-held areas of Syria's divided city of Aleppo Saturday, as key regime backer Russia rejected calls to rein in its ally.

Aleppo was left out of a new temporary US-Russian brokered truce that appeared to be holding in the regime stronghold of Latakia as well as Damascus and the nearby rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta.

US Secretary of State John Kerry was to travel Sunday to Geneva in a show of support for the truce and will meet the UN envoy to Syria and the Jordanian and Saudi foreign ministers.

The State Department said his talks will focus on "efforts to reaffirm the cessation of hostilities nationwide in Syria".

A new round of UN-backed peace talks is set to start on May 10 in Geneva.
In Aleppo's rebel-held east, dozens of civilians left the battered Bustan al-Qasr district early Saturday, an AFP correspondent said.

"The situation has become unbearable," Abu Mohammed said as he prepared to flee with his wife and five children. "Everything is paralysed."

Russia said that it would not ask Damascus to halt air raids on Aleppo.

"No, we are not going to put pressure on (Damascus) because one must understand that the situation in Aleppo is part of this fight against the terrorist threat," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said.

Washington has appealed to Moscow to keep President Bashar al-Assad's regime in check.

Once Syria's economic hub, Aleppo and its surrounding countryside have suffered some of the worst fighting in a conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.

Watching the sky

At least 246 civilians have died in shelling, rocket fire and air strikes in both sides of the city since April 22, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

At least 10 civilians died in rebel-controlled areas on Saturday, the civil defence said.

The few people out on the streets watched the sky anxiously for regime aircraft, running for shelter when one launched a new raid.

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, reported 28 air strikes on eastern neighbourhoods.

But in its daily report on Syria, Russia's defence ministry said it had recorded only "three ceasefire violations in the city of Aleppo", blaming them all on the rebels.

The SANA state news agency said shelling of western government-held neighbourhoods killed three civilians including a child, and blamed Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and its allies.

A pro-government newspaper said Thursday the army was preparing an offensive to recapture all of Aleppo and the surrounding province.

Some families have fled to safer districts, while others left by the dangerous Castello road, the only route out of near-besieged east Aleppo.

Hospitals have also been bombed in nine days of escalating violence in Aleppo.

Four medical facilities were hit Friday on both sides of the front line, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

A raid on Wednesday hit a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross as well as nearby housing, killing 30 people and sparking an international outcry.
On other fronts, fighting halted at 1:00 am Saturday (2200 GMT Friday) in a "freeze" set to last for 24 hours in Damascus and Eastern Ghouta, and 72 hours in Latakia.

Aid for besieged towns

Humanitarian convoys carrying food and medicine meanwhile entered the besieged rebel-held towns of Madaya and Zabadani, northwest of Damascus, on Saturday, the Red Cross said.

At the same time, trucks entered the besieged government-held towns of Fuaa and Kafraya, southwest of Aleppo.

Madaya became infamous in late 2015 after dozens died of starvation there.

In the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a couple and their two daughters were killed in strikes by unidentified aircraft on a village held by the Islamic State group, the Observatory said.

And in northeastern Syria, a suicide bomber killed five Kurdish policemen at a checkpoint in the city of Qamishli, police said.

The violence in Aleppo has severely tested the February 27 truce between the regime and non-jihadist rebels intended to pave the way to an end to the five-year conflict.

Anas al-Abdeh, head of the Istanbul-based opposition National Coalition, Saturday accused the regime of "war crimes and crimes against humanity" in Aleppo.

Human Rights Watch also said the air strikes on medical facilities in the city "may amount to war crimes".

Qatar called for an emergency Arab League meeting, and Saudi Arabia condemned the regime strikes.

Appel der letzten Ärzte aus Aleppo | „Bald wird es keine Mediziner mehr geben“

Und wieder wurde Aleppo von Bombenangriffen am Freitag hart getroffen: photo by AFP via Bild, 1 May 2016

 
#AleppoIsBurning: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016 [Political editor @BILD / GER], 30 April 2016 

Julian Röpcke

The ONLY thing that could start a real peace process / national reconciliation in #Syria is: The removal of Bashar al-#Assad. Dead or alive.: tweet via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016


#Syria, #FSA statement : “No to a truce silent without Aleppo”: image via yalla souriya @YallaSouriya, 30 April 2016 


#Report 46 civilians were killed by the #Assad regime and its allies across #Syria on Saturday. - LCC: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016

 
History counts its skeletons in round numbers.
A thousand and one remains a thousand,
as though the one had never existed:
an imaginary embryo, an empty cradle,
an ABC never read,
air that laughs, cries, grows,
emptiness running down steps toward the garden,
nobody's place in the line.

Wislawa Szymborska: from Hunger Camp At Jaslo, translated by Grazyna Drabik and Austin Flint



LETTER FROM #ALEPPO The last doctors beg the world to take action vs. the #AssadRegime. (Google-translated) #Syria: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016


 #Aleppo today. The USELESS @UN members not even try to hold an emergency session for it.: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016


#Aleppo today: #Assad keeps slaughtering its people with air strikes. #AleppoIsBurning: image via Julian Röpcke @JulianRoepcke, 30 April 2016



Thousands petition for #Google to change color to red for #Aleppo: image via Al Arabiya English @AlArabiya_Eng, 30 April 2016



‘Aleppo is burning’ has been trending on the internet, calling for the escalated violence in the Syrian city to stop
: photo by AP via Al Arabiya English, 1 May 2016 

As Aleppo bleeds, social media users switch to red pictures: Staff writer, Al Arabiya English, 1 May 2016

As the violence in Syria’s Aleppo escalates, a social media campaign calling for the aggression to stop has gained momentum.

The campaign, called ‘Aleppo is burning,’ first began when social media users began to post pictures of the color red on their accounts in a bid to raise awareness.

The ongoing fighting in Syria’s second largest city, which has killed almost 250 and injured many more, has been described by the UN as “monstrous disregard for civilian lives by all parties to the conflict.”

In solidarity with the city, other campaigns have created, including a petition that pleas for Google to temporarily change the color of its logo to red.

The petition that was created on Saturday called for 10,000 signatures, but has already received over 11,000.

In addition, worldwide demonstrations have been organized to protest the Syrian regime’s airstrikes on the city.

Nearly 30 airstrikes hit rebel-held areas of Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, marking nine straight days of bombardment.

However, a temporary “regime of calm” announced by the Syrian army late on Friday appeared to have taken hold in two other areas shattered by recent fighting, in the northwest coastal province Latakia and outskirts of the capital Damascus.

The Syrian government said the “regime of calm” -- from which a military source said Aleppo had been exempted -- was an attempt to salvage a wider ceasefire deal reached in February.

The February truce, brokered by Washington and Moscow, has all but collapsed in fighting that has intensified, particularly in and around Aleppo as peace talks in Geneva have crumbled.




[Aleppo today]: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016

 
[Aleppo today]: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016



 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016


 
 #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016
 

#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016
 


#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016


 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016

 
 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016

 
 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016



 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016

 
 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016



 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016



 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016

 

 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016



 #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 29 April 2016

  
#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 30 April 2016

 

Crisis in Syria: the battle for Aleppo: image via AFP, 30 April 2016



Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall before a meeting with his Uzbek counterpart at the Kremlin in Moscow: photo by Maxim Shemetov / AFP, 26 April 2016


Trump on getting to the convention: "I felt like I was crossing the border"
: image via Los Angeles Times @latimes, 29 April 2016



Remains of the Trump piñata #CAGOPConvention: image via Julia Carrie Wong @juliacarriew, 29 April 2016

A Russian Soyuz 2.1A rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kms from the city of Blagoveshchensk...A Russian Soyuz 2.1A rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kms from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia April 28, 2016.  REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool

A Russian Soyuz 2.1A rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, Russia: photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool/Reuters, 28 April 2016

World in focus — best photos for April 28, 2016

A Russian Soyuz 2.1A rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometres from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region, Russia.: photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev / Reuters, 28 April 2016

Ruling AK Party and pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers scuffle during a debate at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey late April 27, 2016.    REUTERS/Stringer   EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE

Ruling AK Party and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers scuffle during a debate at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey: photo by Reuters, 28 April 2016

Ruling AK Party and pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers scuffle during a debate at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey late April 27, 2016.    REUTERS/Stringer   EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE

Ruling AK Party and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers scuffle during a debate at the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey: photo by Reuters, 28 April 2016



Kurdish gunmen look at the burning car of a Shi'ite militiaman in Tuz Khurmato, Iraq
: photo by Goran Tomasevic / Reuters,  24 April 2016


A young man asked @SenTedCruz to sign a copy of the Communist Manifesto as a joke. Here's what Cruz wrote.
: image via Ben Gittleson @bgittleson, 28 April 2016

 

Whiff of controversy: Japan urges foreign tourists to avoid 'public flatulence'
: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016


Korean dog meat farmers seek fresh start
: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 27 April 2016




A dog looks out from a cage at a dog farm during a media visit organised by the Humane Society International in Wonju, southeast of Seoul. The dogs were being transported to the US. The business was the fifth and the largest dog meat farm to be closed down by the Humane Society International. The dogs in the farm, one of thousands across the country, were bred specifically for consumption and confined in their cages from birth until slaughtered for their meat. South Koreans are believed to consume somewhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million dogs every year, but the meat farming industry is in decline, with little demand among the younger generation.: photo by Ed Jones / AFP, 27 April 2016



Leading members of the Min Joo party (C) applaud as the exit poll is broadcast at the National Assembly in Seoul: photo by Ed Jones/AFP, 14 April 2016



Leading members of the Min Joo party (C) applaud as the exit poll is broadcast at the National Assembly in Seoul: photo by Ed Jones/AFP, 14 April 2016

Mitsubishi Motors President Tetsuro Aikawa reacts during a press conference announcing the embattled carmaker's earnings for the fiscal year 2015, in Tokyo

Mitsubishi Motors President Tetsuro Aikawa reacts during a press conference announcing the embattled carmaker’s earnings for the fiscal year 2015, in Tokyo: photo by Franck Robichon/EPA, 27 April 2016

Mitsubishi Motors President Tetsuro Aikawa reacts during a press conference announcing the embattled carmaker's earnings for the fiscal year 2015, in Tokyo  

Mitsubishi Motors President Tetsuro Aikawa reacts during a press conference announcing the embattled carmaker’s earnings for the fiscal year 2015, in Tokyo: photo by Franck Robichon/EPA, 27 April 2016 

World in focus — best photos for April 28, 2016

Volkswagen cars are loaded in a delivery tower at the plant of German carmaker in Wolfsburg, Germany
: photo by Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters, 28 April 2016


Watchers wonder if Apple has lost its magic: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016


Mourners walked in the rubble of a hospital destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, by government forces on Thursday. At least 27 people were killed.:  photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016



A man gestures amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The death toll from an upsurge of fighting in Syria’s second city Aleppo 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


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



Women stand on a balcony after airstrikes in the rebel held area of al-Kalaseh neighborhood of Aleppo: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016


A man follows rescuers carrying the body of a boy on a stretcher following a air strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP. 28 April 2016


 A man carries a child after airstrikes hit Aleppo: photo by UGC via AP video, 28 April 2016 


A family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhlabi/AFP, 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: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016
 

Civil defense members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 27 April 2016


Syrian civil defense volunteers remove the body of a man from the rubble of destroyed buildings following airstrikes in Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhabi/AFP, 27 April 2016



An injured woman reacts at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Old Aleppo, Syria: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016



A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in an airstrike in the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo: photo by Karam Al-Masri/AFP, 27 April 2016



Syrian civil defense volunteers evacuate a woman from a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighborhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: photo by Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016

1 comment:

TC said...

I totally get that the plight of the Syrian opposition in Aleppo is not easy to think about.

Of course, not thinking about it remains a luxury available only to those who are not there.

Aleppo 2016_4_30

Aleppo 2016_4_30