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Syrian war: agony of Aleppo

Kiwi journalist Glen Johnson gives a glimpse of the horror of Syria’s civil war through the eyes of a father and his young daughter.

By Glen Johnson In Current Affairs

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31st January, 2013
Mahmoud is 37. He once had everything, he says. A wealthy Aleppan businessman, he owned property and cellphone stores and managed an upscale hotel. He had a family. Then the suicide bombings started, targeting state security buildings. Last July, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) swept into Aleppo. The ancient and cosmopolitan city – at the end of the Silk Road and renowned for its spice and dye trade – was consumed by war.  What began as a series of peaceful protests in support of human rights and democratic reform, as part of the wave of rebellion spreading through the Arab world in early 2011, became an armed insurgency as Assad’s troops responded with force. ...

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