ALEPPO, Syria — It’s 2 a.m. on June 7 and calm hangs over the neighborhood of Bustan al-Qasr. All the shops are closed. A few passersby walk the street; two, three, maybe five in total. Quiet reigns, except for the sound of a helicopter flying low to the ground, which is atypical during the day.
No one looked up to the sky, because the helicopter could not be seen while it circled. Maybe it was directly overhead or farther away.