Edward Dark - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Edward Dark

Edward Dark (a pseudonym) is a columnist for Al-Monitor's Syria Pulse living in Aleppo. On Twitter: @edwardedark

Russian involvement in Syria brings about another siege for Aleppo

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

Aleppo's Christians face rising violence

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)

Aleppo's Christians see regime as last hope

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

Four years on, civilian deaths continue in Syria

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

Aleppo residents tested by snowstorm, war

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

How foreign imams radicalized Syria's war

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

Syrian fighter's story one of tragedy, greed

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

'Conflict freeze' desperately needed in Aleppo

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

Syria faces decisive battles in north, south

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

Why arming rebels will fuel Syria's inferno

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

Syrian regime takes advantage of coalition strikes

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

Syrian regime ignores supporters' rising anger