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Edward Dark (a pseudonym) is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Syria Pulse living in Aleppo. On Twitter: @edwardedark
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![A woman reacts while civil defence members carry her dead child after what activists said was shelling by warplanes loyal to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad in Aleppo's rebel-controlled Bab Al-Nairab district April 12, 2015. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail - RTR4X059](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2015/04/RTR4X059.jpg/RTR4X059.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=JzN0Yi_X)
Edward Dark
![A Syrian rebel looks at damaged display cases inside a former church turned into a film museum which was shelleld by government forces in Aleppo's old city on January 17, 2013. Rebels trying to break a months-long deadlock in their battle for Syria's second city Aleppo say they are cutting supply routes ahead of simultaneous assaults on regime bases. AFP PHOTO/AAMIR QURESHI (Photo credit should read AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2015/03/159617125.jpg/159617125.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=P0frQmGN)
Edward Dark
![Civilians carry their children as they flee, after what activists said were two barrels bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in the northwestern Homs district of Al Waer, February 7, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4OLPY](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2015/02/RTR4OLPY.jpg/RTR4OLPY.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=nruBa6Vu)
Edward Dark
![Children warm themselves next to an open fire beside fuel barrels, engine oil and accessories displayed for sale in Aleppo January 13, 2015. Residents of Kafr Hamra, a town in the rural Aleppo countryside, refine crude oil in makeshift cottage refineries in warehouses and backyards for heating, operating bakeries and even running cars, just like most locals across rebel-held areas of Syria. The state no longer pumps gasoline to areas in rebel hands, and civilians have resorted to buying crude oil from armed](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2015/01/RTR4LYTP.jpg/RTR4LYTP.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=YBP-XQoy)
Edward Dark
![Free Syrian Army members take Islam lessons in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district, September 18, 2013. REUTERS/Loubna Mrie (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY RELIGION) - RTX13QCR](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/12/RTX13QCR.jpg/RTX13QCR.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=2wDh2l24)
Edward Dark
![Rebel fighters ride a motorbike in the old city of Aleppo December 7, 2014. Picture taken December 7, 2014. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4H3I6](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/12/RTR4H3I6.jpg/RTR4H3I6.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=8KJUkxxc)
Edward Dark
![Smoke rises from al-Khalidiya neighbourhood, where forces loyal to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad are located, during what activists said was shelling by Free Syrian Army fighters from Bani Zeid neighbourhood, in Aleppo November 10, 2014. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4DM55](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/11/RTR4DM55.jpg/RTR4DM55.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=N7Dnxc9y)
Edward Dark
![A Free Syrian Army fighter fires his weapon during clashes with forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the Handarat area, north of Aleppo November 6, 2014. REUTERS/Hosam Katan (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4D5F0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/11/RTR4D5F0.jpg/RTR4D5F0.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=pN7L2O4D)
Edward Dark
![Rebel fighters fire their weapons at the frontline against forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in al-Amriyah neighbourhood of Aleppo October 11, 2014. REUTERS/Hosam Katan (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR49S8W](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/11/RTR49S8W.jpg/RTR49S8W.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=I6sfRjWn)
Edward Dark
![Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad hold their weapons as they walk in Handarat area, north of Aleppo, after saying they have regained control of the area, October 4, 2014. The Syrian army has taken control of three villages, state television said, in a campaign by Assad's forces that could encircle insurgents in the city. Although there are smaller, more indirect routes into Aleppo, taking the northern road would also allow the army to besiege areas of the city which fell to insurgents in 201](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/10/RTR48XLH.jpg/RTR48XLH.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=clViGg3L)
Edward Dark
![A member of forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad holds the Syrian flag as he walks on debris of damaged buildings in al-Dukhaneya neighbourhood near Damascus, after the forces regained control of the area from rebel fighters October 7, 2014. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR499FJ](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/10/RTR499FJ.jpg/RTR499FJ.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=o6mWWzgb)
Edward Dark