La testimonianza da Damasco del nostro collaboratore, Ayham Khouly
Damasco 09 dicembre: I ribelli sono entrati a Damasco, le persone sono terrorizzate, sono in continua ricerca di beni di prima necessità, prima che finiscano per l'intera città.
La testimonianza da Damasco del nostro collaboratore, Ayham Khouly
Damasco 08 dicembre: I ribelli sono entrati a Damasco nel giro di pochi giorni. Tanti gli interrogativi sul futuro della Siria.
ALEPPO 06 dicembre: Hama è caduta, le milizie si muovono verso Homs. Le code infinite degli sfollati per raggiungere un luogo sicuro.
"I returned to Damascus yesterday morning," writes Jean Francois Thiry, coordinator of Pro Terra Sancta's activities in Syria. "For now it is impossible to reach Aleppo and the friends who have remained there: crossing the line of fire is too dangerous at this time. The situation in the country changes every hour."
"Last Thursday the jihadist group 'Liberation of Damascus' took Aleppo, almost without firing and they are taking all the cities going down to Damascus, all this with the support of Turkey. Last night Hama fell, today they are heading towards Homs. If Homs falls, the next city will be Damascus."
"A humanitarian catastrophe is taking place," continues Jean Francois: "the population is trying to flee the front line, moving south or towards the coast (Tartus and Latakia). I think the challenge we face is to understand what we place our hope in: In a specific power? In political stability?"
Aleppo 05 December: fear in Hama.
Update from our colleague Anton Bardouk: "The situation is very difficult in the country of Hama, once again. They are now inside Skelvia, which is a large Christian village northeast of Hama. Now they are inside and fighting with local fighters.
At the same time they are around another Christian village, called Mahardeh. The situation is becoming more and more dangerous: here, in the Christian valley, we are welcoming many families who come from those two large villages."
ALEPPO 04 December: fuel returns at unaffordable prices, employees are still without salaries.
The availability of goods continues to decline, and resource prices skyrocket, along with the number of people in need of food support. The distribution begins to have difficulty in helping all those who apply; The priorities are children and the elderly.
Today some petrol is available again, but only for the wealthiest: the price of a litre of fuel today is equivalent to about a tenth of an average salary, and there are few who can afford it, also because the employees have not received their November salary. The little they have, people use to try to find food, and the danger of hunger becomes more and more real.
To cope with the situation, the opposition forces are trying to normalize life in the city, to offer a new image of themselves to the world that observes them: they have begun to clean the streets of the garbage that had accumulated, they bring supplies of various kinds, they are willing and eager to build a climate of tolerance and coexistence. However, this does not reassure people: "What if there were to be bombings on civilians? What if the tolerance shown today were to turn into discriminatory laws tomorrow?" "Should I leave or stay?"
The uncertainty of the present remains firm in the city of Aleppo and in the whole of Syria, while the anti-government militias make their way towards Hama.
To help the population of Aleppo, both the families left in the city and those displaced, we have opened a dedicated aid campaign: you can find it here!
ALEPPO 03 December: a new water shortage on the horizon, telephone communications are interrupted.
Today, in Aleppo, the frequency of bombings and gunfire seems to have eased slightly; However, this does not mean that the situation is calm. Some foodstuffs are beginning to run out, and people are starting to hurry to collect everything that can feed them, starting with bread: many of the active distribution points in the city are emptying quickly, the fear of the lack of incoming supplies is great.
It seems that there will be no water again, no one knows until when: it seems that the availability depends on the ongoing negotiations with the Kurdish forces. Even telephone communications are now interrupted, and only the internet line remains to keep Syria in touch with the outside world.
Our non-emergency activities are suspended for the moment, waiting to understand what will happen; In the meantime, the distribution of bread and food to families in need continues, drawing on our stocks still available on site.
To help the population of Aleppo, both the families left in the city and those displaced, we have opened a dedicated aid campaign: you can find it here!
ALEPPO 02 December: Franciscan College hit, endless escapes from Aleppo to safer areas.
An airstrike hit the Holy Land College, located in the northwestern area of the city. "The missile hit the monastery warehouse," says our local colleague Jacob, "but fortunately there are no casualties."
The food problem is one of the most painful points of the possible developments of the situation, especially after the blockade of the roads. "At the moment," Jacob continues, "we are facing power outages and water shortages; despite this, the production of bread in the bakery continues. I visited the bakery just this morning: we still have stocks of 2,000 kg of flour, and we hope it will last."
The roads out of the city continue to be blocked by the immense exodus of displaced people: "It took me more than 18 hours to get out of Aleppo and reach the western countryside of Homs," explains our colleague Anton. "There were cars of all kinds, police vehicles, fire trucks and many soldiers: it seemed that the government had completely evacuated the city. Today there was an attack on the Haftat Baghdad station, near the center of Aleppo, and airplanes have been heard flying over the city all day."
"Now there is a need for food," Anton continues: "There is almost no bread left, the quantities available are very limited. The same goes for fuel. There has been no water for three days. The population is suffering a lot because of this situation".
To help the population of Aleppo, both the families left in the city and those displaced, we have opened a dedicated aid campaign: you can find it here!
ALEPPO, December 1st: the city is occupied by jihadist forces from Tahrir al Sham and Kurds.
Thousands of people fleeing. Aid is needed to:
- Support for displaced families in Aleppo and Hama, arriving in the cities of Lattakia and Damascus, with help for accommodation in convents, reception centers and rented houses.
- Help to these displaced families with warm food and blankets for the next month, and medicines for the most sensitive cases.
- Cooking and help for food and medicine for the families left in Aleppo. There are fears of an increase in prices (although electricity actually remains stable).
- Production and distribution of bread in Aleppo for the remaining families, both in the west and in the east.
Aleppo - Update 30 November
From Aleppo we receive these updates: "Currently the opposition military have occupied the city of Aleppo. Many families have chosen to leave the city even if there is no reason to create panic. Obviously we do not know how the situation will evolve but for now I can say that I have not noticed or heard episodes of violence against civilians.
The streets in the morning seemed empty but then the movement slowly resumed its almost normal course. Now you can hear the sounds of some shots or aerial bombardments but I can't say exactly what they are. People are apprehensive... I couldn't say anything more... We wait with prayer and hope for peace to return."
ALEPPO - Update 29 November
According to some sources , groups of fighters from Tahrir al-Sham have already taken control of several villages in the northwest area on the outskirts of Aleppo. Our office in Aleppo tells us in real time about the updates and fears that are spreading in the country as the clashes approach.
"I closed the office and went home, we don't know whether to run away or stay, some of our colleagues have already left the city for fear of the fighting": our colleague Anton, project coordinator of the Pro Terra Sancta office in Aleppo, updates us live on the situation. "Everyone is closing," he continues. "We hear the sounds of attacks, they seem to be getting closer and closer. It seems they have already occupied the suburbs of West Aleppo and are trying to enter from the north as well."
"People are panicking," explains Father Bahjat, the parish priest of the city. "There is fighting and it seems that armed groups have already penetrated at the entrance to Aleppo. Let's see how the situation evolves."
"Throughout the day we have seen a huge movement of troops and tanks in the city - explains another colleague - for example on one of the main arteries there is a very large concentration of soldiers at the moment but there is no fighting, there is a lot of confusion also because there has been no violent fighting apart from some episodes of rocket launch and artillery exchange".
QUI il video dei carri armati governativi sotto l'ufficio di Pro Terra Sancta.
We are following the evolution of the situation with concern, waiting for more updates.
