Syria’s internal battles have started an uncontrollable fire that’s blazing through the country’s largest city of Aleppo. This fire has already burned many of the country’s historical treasures.
The conflict started back in March 2011 when a few teenagers were tortured by authorities for writing radical sayings against the government on a school wall, according to the BBC. After this incident, many protesters joined the revolution against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The government immediately started retaliating against the protests by opening fire on the crowds. More than 700 civilians were believed to be killed in the first protests.
Understanably, this was cause for panic for many Syrian families. People all across the nation fled, and still are fleeing to neighboring countries. According to the BBC, “A further one million are thought to have been internally displaced because of the fighting.”
In May 2012, 15 months later, the protests were still happening across the country and the government was still reacting harshly to the demonstrators. Bombs were also exploding in large cities, and it is still in question as to who set them off. According to the BBC, the government and protesting groups are blaming each other.
Soon after, massacres started happening around the country. In one instance, an entire village located outside of Houla was gunned down and killed for protesting. According to BBC statistics, about 108 people were killed, 49 being children.
The country’s situation has caused a global uproar. The United Nations has been sought out to force al-Assad to resign, but the solution was vetoed by China and Russia. Instead, a man was elected to oversee how protests were handled. After a month of the job he resigned.
The Syrian military is thought to have recently obtained deadly chemicals, such as mustard gas, to use against rebels.
According to the BBC, “U.S. President Barack Obama has warned [Syria’s capital] Damascus it would be held accountable if it uses them.”
Currently, in Aleppo the government and hostile protestors are actively fighting to gain control of the city.
Friday, a large fire broke out in the city, destroying anywhere from 700 to 1,000 historical shops.
Ahmad al-Halabi told the Associated Press that the water supplies have been cut from the city, creating difficulties in taming the fire.
