An uneasy calm hangs over Aleppo, Christian leaders report, following the recent lightning takeover of Syria’s second-largest city by Islamist rebels driving out forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Concerns also mount over government airstrikes.
“A relatively calm day compared to previous days,” a Catholic priest in Aleppo, who asked not to be identified given the sensitivity of the situation, wrote in a letter made available to OSV News.
“However, this doesn’t mean there haven’t been problems of various kinds: Certain food supplies are already running low in the modest market available, and the survival instinct is pushing people to gather anything that can feed them, starting with bread. Several distribution points in the city are emptying quickly,” he added.
“The situation is confusing. We don’t know what will happen. People outside cannot reach Aleppo because it is closed off and under occupation,” Andrea Avveduto, communications chief for Pro Terra Sancta, told OSV News by phone.
Pro Terra Sancta, based in Jerusalem and Milan, Italy, supports the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Since the start of the conflict, it has aided Franciscan fathers in Syria by opening four emergency centers in Damascus, Latakia, Aleppo, Knayeh and Yacoubieh.