Hope returns to eastern Aleppo – which Assad forces all but extinguished
Syrian and Russian forces unleashed all they could on eastern Aleppo. For four years they battled to bring Syria’s second city under Bashar al Assad’s full control.
By December 2016 when the regime finally ceased fire after a devastating siege and bombardment, civilian life there was all but extinguished.
Dr Obeid Diab wants to show us what it looks like when a barrel bomb hits.
We bump into him on the street, coming, as he often does, to check on what’s left of his apartment.
At 84 years old and smartly dressed in a long, dark overcoat, he cuts an incongruous figure against the desolate, ruined shards of destroyed buildings and the cascades of rubble.
“A barrel bomb fell here,” he says, gesturing to the wasteland. “We weren’t here thank god. We were out visiting friends.”
Dr Obeid Diab
‘We buried children with our bare hands’
Barrel bombs are pretty much what they sound like – barrel-shaped cylinders filled with explosives, shrapnel, chemicals, whatever is to hand, dropped from a plane or helicopter.
The regime would improvise. Indiscriminate damage, minimum cost. Assad denied their use, but it was ubiquitous in Syria.
This one killed Dr Diab’s nine-year-old niece. He said he had to bury her and other children in the neighbourhood with his bare hands.
“They would hit indiscriminately. The jets would fly over and the bombs would drop. Whether or not the wind blows it here or there, you don’t know. Is there a specific target in mind? No, I don’t think so. They just hit and go.”
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The horrors didn’t end when the bombardment stopped, though he stopped working as a paediatrician for fear the regime would come after doctors who had been working in the east.
They came for him anyway, because he refused to act as an informer, he says. He was imprisoned for 50 days, a man in his 80s, then kept under house arrest.
“The prison was so dirty and so crowded. We would have to sleep on our sides, stacked up next to one another in a tiny room. And the lice and the scabies… I can’t even begin to describe it,” he says.
“I remember once seeing a friend and saying I wanted to be in the same room as him. And the officer says, ‘you want to be in the same room as him? He’s going to be locked up forever. Is that what you want?’ Detainees were just numbers to them.”
Dr Obeid Diab walks to check on his apartment
We climb the stairs towards what’s left of his apartment, past sacks of chickpeas and boxes of rice from the World Food Programme gathering dust. A pair of slippers are placed neatly beside a large carpet with UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) written on it.
The rest is faded elegance, a hint of old Aleppo. Dr Diab has been trying to repair what he can in the back room which was most heavily damaged.
Sometimes he still sleeps in his bed though the flat is too dangerous to live in full-time. “Who in their right mind would leave their home behind?” he says.
A man pushes his goods along an empty street in eastern Aleppo
Fears of ISIS – but hope HTS will bring stability
Everyone we meet has a story, each as horrifying as the last. Ali on the street outside is wearing a woollen beret knitted in the colours of the revolutionary flag.
He is younger, of fighting age. He looks haunted, as do the gaggle of children around him who’ve been playing in the rubble. He is their uncle.
He says he stayed in his home on that street in eastern Aleppo all the way through the siege in 2016 and for as long as he could after that, when regime militias were in control of the area.
“We didn’t dare even walk down that road. If we did, they’d rob us, they’d take our belongings. They’d stop you, take your money and accuse you of being armed.”
A little girl waves Syria’s revolutionary flag in eastern Aleppo
He was then jailed for three years, first at the air force intelligence base in Aleppo and then with military intelligence in Damascus. When he was released they made him serve in the army. Now he is finally home.
I ask him if he thinks the fighting will stop and if he fears a resurgence of Islamic State (IS), which the US says is gathering itself for a resurgence in Syria’s north east.
“We really hope that more stability comes and that Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) has authority over all of Syria, especially over those guys. We don’t want more problems.”
Buildings destroyed by barrel bombs
Bombed-out streets bustling again
The commerce that made Aleppo one of the world’s great historic trading cities is trickling back to the east.
Major roads are as lively and chaotic as they are in western Aleppo, bustling with traffic and stalls and people hawking all manner of goods.
But look up and the shopkeepers have wedged their awnings and their shawarma grills into broken, bombed-out buildings. Rubble and rubbish line the streets. For some reason, the beggars we see are all women.
This war claimed women and children too, but it was predominantly men who fought across the myriad of factions or who were lost to the regime’s dungeons. Perhaps that is why.
Local children play among the rubble
Children on the street in eastern Aleppo
Noah, who runs a perfume shop, says business has been slow since HTS took over.
The exchange rate has seen massive fluctuations. People have been focusing on basic needs, on food and water.
The Kurdish districts in northern Aleppo are still dangerous, sniper fire from Kurdish militia who feel themselves surrounded and besieged has killed around 100 people over the past two weeks.
“It’s not super stable, people are still quite worried especially when it’s dark at night,” Noah says. “People go home as soon as the sun sets.”
But there is hope. Outside Aleppo’s historic citadel, where HTS posed two weeks ago when they took the city before marching south on the capital, children wave the revolutionary flag and marvel at a camel and pony brought out for the tourists.
Aleppo has witnessed brutal chapters before through its long history. Hopefully the next will be less sadistic than the last.
“We were living in a grave before. It was like a rebirth.” Dr Diab told me. “Now we can smell the fresh air. It’s an indescribable feeling.”
Up to 8,000 holidaying British citizens are in Jamaica as it is battered by one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history.
People have been ordered to stay indoors as Hurricane Melissa sweeps over the Caribbean island, which is also home to 50,000 dual nationals.
And tourists are locked down in hotels as Jamaica is hit by 185 mph winds.
Follow latest updates on Hurricane Melissa
Waves splash in Kingston, Jamaica, as Hurricane Melissa hits. Pic: AP
Andrew Tracey had been due to fly home to the UK on Monday, but his flight was cancelled.
Mr Tracey told Sky News that food packages were being delivered to guests at his hotel. Deck chairs have been removed from the beach, and the swimming pools have been drained, at the Negril hotel where he is staying.
“The balcony and walls do feel as though they are vibrating just due to the strength of the wind,” said Mr Tracey.
“I’m very nervous, it’s hard to comprehend what we are likely to expect.”
The US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said that Melissa was “one of the most powerful hurricane landfalls on record in the Atlantic basin” as it hit southwestern Jamaica near New Hope.
People walk along a road during the passing of Hurricane Melissa in Rocky Point, Jamaica, on Tuesday. Pic: AP
In a social media post, the centre warned that it is an “extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation” – and told those in the area not to leave their shelter as the eye of the storm passes over.
‘It is a bit scary, but we’ve got each other’
A British-Jamaican couple who are sheltering inside as the storm passes over the island spoke to Sky News about their ordeal.
Shantell Nova Rochester and her Jamaican fiance Denva Wray are due to get married on the island next month.
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Floods tear through parts of Jamaica
They spoke of broken windows and water coming in where they are staying, but the couple believe they are “as safe as they can possibly be” in St Elizabeth.
Mr Wray said: “Where we are is quite strong, sturdy, but you can hear a lot of wind. It is a bit scary, but we’ve got each other, so we are strong.”
Asked about the wedding, Ms Rochester said: “We’re just worried about getting through tomorrow, but that’s a worry in the back of our heads.
“Where we’re plan to get married is flooded at this time.”
Government action ‘too late’ – British tourist
One British man who paid £3,500 for last-minute flights so he and his family could return home before the hurricane hit the island said that he felt “completely let down” by the government’s response.
David Rowe and his family, from Hertfordshire, had spent 10 days in Jamaica before deciding to fly back to the UK on Saturday.
Mr Rowe, 47, was critical of the response of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
David Rowe with his wife Abby, daughter Cora, eight, and son Ethan, 12, during their holiday in Jamaica. Pic: PA/handout
Speaking to the PA news agency, IT manager Mr Rowe said: “It’s all too late, their reaction and their response to the storm has been too late – after the fact.
“The advice should have been last week, like on the Saturday – don’t travel – because a lot of the travel companies use the FCDO guidance on travel (for) all their planning and what decisions they make as an organisation.
“There should have been something done much sooner than this. A lot of the UK nationals, and people on holiday there, they are stranded.
“This could have been prevented with with better action from the UK government.”
Read more:
Hurricane Melissa: What we know
‘Storm of century’ makes landfall
Mr Rowe added that he and his wife had felt “very anxious” before they flew home – and “very sad” for those left in the country.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We understand how worrying developments in Jamaica are for British nationals and their families.
“Our travel advice includes information about hurricane season, which runs from June to November. Last Thursday we updated our travel advice for Jamaica to include a warning about Tropical Storm Melissa and that it was expected to intensify over the coming days.
“The safety and security of British nationals is our top priority, and that is why we are urging any British nationals in Jamaica to follow the guidance of the local authorities and register their presence with us to receive updates.”
World
Blasts reported after Benjamin Netanyahu orders Israeli military to carry out ‘powerful’ strikes in Gaza
Blasts have been reported in Gaza after Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to carry out “powerful” air strikes.
Witnesses said they saw explosions and heard tank fire in Gaza City and Deir al Balah.
An Associated Press reporter in Deir al Balah heard tanks firing from an area controlled by the Israeli army, and, in Gaza City, two health officials reported strikes, including near the Shifa hospital.
At least two people were killed, and four others wounded, by a strike on a neighbourhood south of Gaza City, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence.
The announcement of strikes came shortly after Israel said that Hamas had opened fire on its forces in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Hamas has denied involvement in the attack in the city of Rafah. The militant Palestinian group also said in a statement that it remained committed to the US-backed ceasefire deal.
Mr Netanyahu had also accused Hamas of violating the three-week-old ceasefire in the territory by handing over remains that were of an Israeli hostage who was already recovered.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to carry out air strikes on Gaza. Pic: Reuters
A statement from the prime minister’s office said: “Following the security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military echelon to carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip immediately.”
US Vice President JD Vance said the ceasefire, which began on 10 October, was holding, telling reporters: “That doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be little skirmishes here and there.
“We know that Hamas or somebody else within Gaza attacked an (Israeli military) soldier. We expect the Israelis are going to respond, but I think the president’s peace is going to hold despite that.”
Hamas on Tuesday said that it would postpone the planned handover of a body of a hostage it had recovered, claiming violations of the ceasefire by Israel.
In a sign of the fragility of the ceasefire, Israeli troops were shot at in Rafah, and returned fire, according to an Israeli military official.
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Analysis: Two events combine to threaten a fragile ceasefire
An Israeli military official told Sky’s Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons that Hamas have “shown their true face”.
The official told him: “Hamas violated the ceasefire once again, carrying out an attack against IDF forces east to the yellow line, an area under Israeli control.
“This is yet another blatant violation of the ceasefire. This comes after Hamas has also shown their true face and the fact that are pretending to not know where the remaining hostages are.”
Hamas militants carry a white bag believed to contain a body retrieved from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Tuesday. Pic: AP
Hamas said on the Telegram messaging app that any Israeli escalation of attacks in Gaza would hinder search and recovery operations, and delay the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers.
There are thought to be 13 bodies of hostages still in Gaza.
Read more:
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Speaking to Sky News, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said: “The first line of this agreement is that all of our hostages should have been returned on the first day of this agreement.
“They were supposed to give back all of our hostages, and there was supposed to be a ceasefire. There are still 13 of our murdered hostages (in Gaza).
“And secondly, Hamas are firing on our troops. That is not a ceasefire.”
After the ceasefire took effect, all 20 living hostages were freed in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, but the remains of the dead have been slow to be repatriated.
Hamas has said there are problems finding them due to a lack of equipment to sift through the devastation and rubble in Gaza.
The search for hostage bodies had been stepped up over the past few days after the arrival of heavy machinery from Egypt.
Hamas members and Egyptian workers search for the bodies of hostages in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Pic: AP
Bulldozers were working in Khan Younis, and further north in Nuseirat, with Hamas fighters deployed around them.
Some of the bodies are believed to be in Hamas’ network of tunnels below Gaza.
Eleven people have been killed after a plane carrying tourists to a Kenyan safari reserve crashed.
According to officials, the aircraft burst into flames and was reduced to charred wreckage at the hilly and forested area in which it crashed.
The plane had been travelling from Diani Airport, on the coast, to the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
The dead included eight Hungarian passengers, two Germans and the Kenyan pilot. There were no survivors.
Authorities initially said the crash happened at 5:30am local time. Later, the Kenyan transport minister gave the time of the incident as 8:35am.
Kenyan officials inspect the scene of a plane crash near Diani, Kenya. Pic: AP
Kenya’s ministry of roads and transport said the aircraft was destroyed by the impact of the crash and an ensuing fire.
Investigators from the country’s aircraft accident investigation department have been deployed to the site to begin an inquiry, they said.
The department added that the Kenyan government’s “highest priority” remains aviation safety.
In a statement, John Cleave, the chairman of Mombasa Air Safari, said “our hearts and prayers” were with all those affected by the crash.
He wrote that the company had activated its emergency response team and was “fully cooperating” with the relevant authorities, who have already begun investigating.
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“Our primary focus right now is on providing all possible support to the families affected,” Mr Cleave continued, adding that a family assistance team had been established to offer counselling, logistical coordination and any required assistance to the relatives of the victims.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is a two-hour direct flight from Diani, a popular coastal town known for its sandy beaches.
Kenyan security officials secure the wreckage of an aircraft which crashed with 11 people onboard. Pic: Reuters
The reserve attracts a large number of tourists as it features the annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote on social media on Tuesday that his foreign ministry had been in contact with authorities in Kenya concerning the Hungarian victims of the plane crash.
He said: “What a tragedy! Our sincere condolences to families of the Hungarians who died in the plane crash in Kenya.”
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