Lina al-Shami has been sending pleas for help on social media, along with many others in remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Twitter screenshot
Residents, activists and rebels inside eastern Aleppo are issuing desperate pleas for help on social media as forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claim to have taken control of most of the city.
Twitter user @Mr.Alhamdo, whose bio identifies him as a "Teacher, Activist and a reporter from inside Aleppo," was one of the first voices to be heard after Russia and Syria declared an end to military operations earlier this week. His Periscope video dated Monday shows him in a hooded sweatshirt saying that it would likely be his "last call" from the city and that he had lost all faith in the international community and the United Nations and that all he and others fighting Assad wanted was "freedom."
Al Jazeera identified him as "social media activist" Abdulkafi al-Hamdo. A more recent video interview with al-Hamdo via Skype showed him apparently panicked, wide-eyed and flinching as explosions were heard nearby.
Several sources with the United Nations report indiscriminate killing by government forces, with UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville saying Aleppo residents were being "caught and killed on the spot" in "a complete meltdown of humanity." He said Assad forces killed 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children, after seizing control of part of eastern Aleppo on Monday.
Claiming to be the only American citizen in the city, Syria-based journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem wrote a harrowing account of his three months in the city reporting on the conflict for On The Ground News.
Kareem confirmed via video posted Wednesday morning that shelling by Syrian forces had not stopped. He begged for people to share his post, contact their governments and "stay engaged."
Others trapped in the city also sent out pleas, including architect and activist Lina al-Shami, who posted a video Wednesday afternoon, urging people to protest at Syrian and Russian embassies around the world.
In an interview with Al Jazeera posted Wednesday, al-Shami accused the government of propaganda in claiming they were there to rescue residents from terrorists "to cover the genocide they are committing in the city."
A verified Twitter account with messages claiming to be from a 7-year-old girl named Bana Alabed and her mother, Fatemah, begged for help, with the girl Tweeting "This is my last moment to either live or die."
