ALEPPO, Syria — Aside from the horrors of indiscriminate targeting and bombing of civilians, Aleppans have had to endure orchestrated campaigns of sieges and deliberate starvation. A crumbling infrastructure and collapsed public services mean that for many, what once were basics were now luxury items, well out of reach. With lack of access to utilities and basic health care, new forms of death threaten the inhabitants of this unfortunate land.
Perhaps no city has suffered during the Syrian conflict as much as Aleppo in that regard, in both its rebel- and regime-controlled parts. Both regime forces and rebels have attempted, and are still attempting, blockades against civilians of the opposing areas, aiming to drive them out of their homes and psychologically break them, turning them against those in control. This tactic deliberately targets ordinary people, turning their suffering and misery into a weapon of war, to pressure and affect change in the battlefronts and on the ground.