Aleppo, the second largest city of Syria has been under incessant siege in the last 5 years, the once grand city pulverized into pitiful wreckage. Yet, until the present a million residents remain under its rubbles eking out a living without decency and comfort.
Aleppo used to have a population of more than two and a half million residents within its confines, now drastically reduced to more than half its previous number due to continuing hostilities that made the city a beleaguered war zone. The biggest tragedy is that there are women and children living in the besieged city.
Aleppo was an enormous city of 70 square miles, twice as large as the city of Paris in France. Its huge size makes it difficult for an occupying army to control the city especially if several groups are in contention.
Control of the city is therefore splintered with Syrian regime supported by Russia, controlling the western portion, the eastern side by rebels aiming to oust Bashar al-Assad's regime, other portions are occupied by Kurds and a faction under the control of ISIS.
The most ravished areas are the rebel-controlled eastern side, under constant attack by airstrikes with an estimated 250,000 besieged on land by government troops. Many places are reduced to rubbles but there are thousands of people living under the debris.
Many are appalled by the insistence of Aleppo residents to stay in the city despite the pitiful conditions they are forced to live in. Abdulraham Almawwas of the White Helmets, a civil defense volunteer said that they have nowhere to go and there are "no ways to get out of this city". "It's completely under siege" he added.
Medical aid is difficult to come by since only 30 doctors serve in the troubled eastern section of 250,000 residents. The only relief for Aleppo survivors would be a declaration of a joint ceasefire among combatants so humanitarian aid can begin.
