Paul Keenan
The Vicar Apostolic of Aleppo of the Latins has described the situation for his people in the Syrian city of Aleppo as “critical” as fierce fighting for its control goes on.
Stuck in the Lebanese capital Beirut as the latest stage in the Syrian conflict forces road closures, Msgr Georges Abou Khazen said that through contact he has managed to make with Christians in the city, it is clear that “people are afraid” of an even greater escalation in the fighting and that trapped Christians and Muslims are now “praying unceasingly for peace”.
Despite earlier hopes on the part of troops loyal to President Bashar al Assad that Aleppo could be seized from rebels, a fierce counter attack scuppered that plan. Observers believe that, more than a territorial victory, whoever ultimately wins out in the battle for Aleppo will have scored a major symbolic strike which will ultimately pitch the war in favour of the winners. Such a belief is attested to by the ferocity of fighting which has beset the city, and a return to darker days in the conflict when gas attacks were used as a tactic. In a recent alleged use of chlorine gas in one suburb, at least four people died through inhalation, leading to claims of a war crime.
Escalation
“Faced with an escalation of the conflict, the civilian population does not know what to expect for the future,” Msgr Khazen said. He added there are “feelings of anticipation for the imminence of a great battle, a pitched battle that everyone hopes to avoid, because it is civilians who will pay the most”.
Despite all, the civilians of Aleppo continue to endure, offered just the briefest respites through Russian assurances of a daily three-hour pause to allow for humanitarian aid, a time period the United Nations has described as insufficient to truly help the populace.
Meanwhile, Vatican Radio has reported that the situation for medical facilities in the city is growing steadily more dire as hospitals have become routine targets in the fighting. Speaking on behalf of Malteser International, the relief agency of the Order of Malta, Janine Lietmeyer said the situation is “really, really desperate”. She added that the Malteser-run hospital has moved all staff to basement areas in the hope of gaining some protection from daily bombardments.
Lietmeyer said the feeling among people in Aleppo now is “that they have been abandoned to their fate” by an international community wearied by bad news from Syria.