Militants open fire on besieged protesters in Aleppo

Thu Jul 11, 2013 17:05:42

Desperate residents in Aleppo, suffering from a strict siege imposed by foreign-backed extremist groups have staged a protest to call for an end to the blockade of the northern Syrian city.

Militants blocked all kinds of supplies from entering the western parts of the city, a move which has left thousands of people without medicine and food supply for months.

According to media reports on Thursday protesters had been dispersed after gunmen started shooting people which left at least one person dead.

Amateur footage uploaded onto YouTube shows dozens of men protesting at a checkpoint in the militant-held district of Bustan al-Qasr, chanting, "The people want an end to the blockade".

The protest is disrupted by several men in black, one carrying a gun, followed by the sound of gunfire.

Many Aleppo residents are desperate and angered by the militants’ blockade, which has created shortages of basics food supplies, and hiked up food prices in several neighborhoods at the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

No one is allowed to bring in aids and militants target convoys which may take supplies to shops.

 

Besieged Nubbul and al-Zahra

A harsher siege has been imposed on the towns of Nubbul and al-Zahra, which are located at north of Aleppo for nearly a year.

Conditions are reported to be gravely hard for some 70 thousands residents of these towns as the insurgents have tightened their grip over people and carried out daily attacks on them to prevent them from contacting the army or any outsider.

Food and medicines have been scarce for months and if people survive epidemic diseases, they may lose their lives within a second at the hands of insurgents who have shown no mercy on people.

The militants who control the area are mostly Libyans, Caucasians and Afghans.

According to a report on June 26th by al-Alam reporter, all the streets are empty and people do not dare leave their homes as they would be shot by armed men moving through the town.

“Last week, a shopkeeper managed to bring in some food supplies and along with several other people, I went to his shop,” another resident told our correspondent. “The armed men fired mortar shells at the shop, killing a boy and several other people. I was wounded in the attack too… It was a horrible scene”.

“My son took some food to his brother’s home. They (the militants) attacked them with shells and killed them both,” a mother cried hard.

Crisis in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of Western and regional states.

The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history.

As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government boosts its political and military support to Takfiri extremists.

Washington has remained indifferent about warnings by Russia and other world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.

SHI/BA

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