The Fight for Aleppo: Life Among the Ruins of Syria's Largest City

December 19, 2012 from The New York Times

In Syria's largest city, a sustained and pitched battle between rebels and the Syrian army has left the city in ruins. Now children rip apart their old classrooms in a desperate hunt for firewood, as residents face shortages of fuel and food, and frustration grows with both the government and rebel fighters.

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Syrian Civil War

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were pa... Explore this topic

Syria

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, i... Explore this topic

Battle of Aleppo

Violent clashes began on 19 July in several Aleppo districts, leading to the Free Syrian Army taking control of some areas. On 24 July, for the first time since the beginning of the uprising in Syria, fighter jets bombed the city. This was part of a larger counter offensive by... Explore this topic

Aleppo

Aleppo, located in northwestern Syria 310 kilometres from Damascus, is the largest city in Syria and serves as the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant.... Explore this topic

Free Syrian Army

The Free Syrian Army is an armed opposition structure operating in Syria during the Syrian civil war. Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel and volunteers, its formation was announced on 29 July 2011 in a video released on the internet by a uniformed group of dese... Explore this topic

Syrian army

The Syrian Army, officially the Syrian Arab Army, is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is the dominant military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the senior most posts in the armed forces, and has the greatest manpower, approximately 80 per... Explore this topic

Civilian casualties

Civilian casualties is a military term describing civilian or non-combatant persons killed, injured, or imprisoned by military action. The description of civilian casualties includes any form of military action regardless of whether civilians were targeted directly. This diffe... Explore this topic

Fuel shortage

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Sniper

A sniper is a highly trained marksman who operates alone, in a pair, or with a team to maintain close visual contact with the enemy and engage targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the detection capabilities of enemy personnel. These sniper teams operate inde... Explore this topic

Air strike

An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, and attack helicopters. The official definition includes all sorts of target... Explore this topic

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Syrian Civil War

Syria

Battle of Aleppo

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