WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT
Aleppo, Syria - Wheat flour shortages around the rebel-controlled areas of Aleppo have created long lines outside the Free Syria Army bread stores of Aleppo. The FSA operates hundreds of these bakeries but a shortage of fuel (benzene - which is used to operate the generators that run the bakeries) and wheat flour has created an escalating food crisis. "We have not had bread for 4 days now" said an elderly man standing outside of the bakery on a...
more »WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT
Aleppo, Syria - Wheat flour shortages around the rebel-controlled areas of Aleppo have created long lines outside the Free Syria Army bread stores of Aleppo. The FSA operates hundreds of these bakeries but a shortage of fuel (benzene - which is used to operate the generators that run the bakeries) and wheat flour has created an escalating food crisis. "We have not had bread for 4 days now" said an elderly man standing outside of the bakery on a recent night at the Shaar neighborhood of Aleppo. According to many activists inside Syria, most of the wheat flour factories are in areas controlled by the Assad regime, which is effectively cutting the supply of basic food essentials to the population that lives in areas controlled by the opposition. Moreover, many of the bakeries operated by the Free Syria Army have been shelled by mortar fire since the conflict engulfed the city of Aleppo in mid July. During the week of December 3, a total of 52 people died in the Bustan Al-Qasr neighborhood when several mortar shells landed in the area - one shell blasted across the street from a bakery. This was one of at least two similar incidents witnessed by this reporter during the same week. Several international NGO's including the United Nations are warning of a possible food crisis across rebel-controlled Syria in the winter months. Chants of "Allahu Akbar" echo through the dark streets as the generator that runs the bakery comes to life only to become silent again. In the meantime, children burn trash to provide heat next to the line of people still waiting outside the bakery past midnight. This fire is the only light that glows at night in this district - electricity was cut ten days ago leaving people without the means to heat their homes as the temperatures drop in the early days of December.
No benzene, no bread.
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