Aleppo's Twitter girl 'missed fruits,' eyes return home
Seven-year-old Bana al-Abed, a Syrian girl who became the voice of war-torn Aleppo with tweets from her hometown, recalled the troubles she and her family endured in an interview with Anadolu Agency in Turkey where she was recently evacuated to. The girl, who was received by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday, spoke about life in Aleppo, how she fled and how she missed eating fruits. Although grateful for surviving the drama in the city constantly bombed by forces loyal to Bashar Assad, the girl hopes to return home one day, like many evacuees from Aleppo have said before.
"Our home was shelled many times by the Russian and regimes' airplanes, we were rescued from under the rubble," Bana says.
"There was no food there in Aleppo. We were only eating rice and macaroni," she replied to a question on what they were eating during the siege that was imposed by the regime forces on Aleppo.
"There was no type of fruit, I really missed eating fruit that time," she lamented.
For five months in a row, eastern parts of Aleppo came under tightening siege and persistent aerial bombardment carried out by Russian and Assad's regime aircrafts.
"I dream to go back to my home there in Aleppo, it is true that our home was shelled but I prefer to return back there," Bana said after being asked if she is going to stay in Turkey.
When she was asked of what she dreams to be in the future, Bana insisted that "I would like to be a teacher in the future. I want to teach the children of Aleppo but unfortunately all schools became ruined there."
Bana went on to narrate how she and her family managed to escape from Aleppo to join the evacuation operation. "While getting out of Aleppo, I feared of being identified by the Assad regime forces. For that reason I covered my face with a scarf, me and my mother feared that they may kill us."
In recent weeks, al-Abed, who hails from eastern Aleppo's opposition-held al-Qatirgi district, posted numerous messages on her Twitter account - along with her mother - about the frequent attacks on the city by Russian and Syrian regime warplanes.
For her part, her mother Fatma al-Abed told Anadolu Agency she received threat messages from the Assad's regime forces after they decided to leave the city, following the full collapse of their house as a result of the intensive bombing.
"All houses we took shelter in were bombed. So we changed our residence many times there," she added.
Recalling the suffering they felt on the evacuation buses, she expressed tearfully that "we were like prisoners there."
"We had been waiting for 19 hours without food and water. They didn't even allow us to get off the bus," she said.
Bana thanked President Erdoğan for helping her family as she had been among the thousands of people evacuated on Monday from Aleppo.
The evacuations are being conducted under a deal brokered by Turkey and Russia for the evacuation of some 20,000 civilians and fighters from eastern Aleppo to Idlib.
"Our home was shelled many times by the Russian and regimes' airplanes, we were rescued from under the rubble," Bana says.
"There was no food there in Aleppo. We were only eating rice and macaroni," she replied to a question on what they were eating during the siege that was imposed by the regime forces on Aleppo.
"There was no type of fruit, I really missed eating fruit that time," she lamented.
For five months in a row, eastern parts of Aleppo came under tightening siege and persistent aerial bombardment carried out by Russian and Assad's regime aircrafts.
"I dream to go back to my home there in Aleppo, it is true that our home was shelled but I prefer to return back there," Bana said after being asked if she is going to stay in Turkey.
When she was asked of what she dreams to be in the future, Bana insisted that "I would like to be a teacher in the future. I want to teach the children of Aleppo but unfortunately all schools became ruined there."
Bana went on to narrate how she and her family managed to escape from Aleppo to join the evacuation operation. "While getting out of Aleppo, I feared of being identified by the Assad regime forces. For that reason I covered my face with a scarf, me and my mother feared that they may kill us."
In recent weeks, al-Abed, who hails from eastern Aleppo's opposition-held al-Qatirgi district, posted numerous messages on her Twitter account - along with her mother - about the frequent attacks on the city by Russian and Syrian regime warplanes.
For her part, her mother Fatma al-Abed told Anadolu Agency she received threat messages from the Assad's regime forces after they decided to leave the city, following the full collapse of their house as a result of the intensive bombing.
"All houses we took shelter in were bombed. So we changed our residence many times there," she added.
Recalling the suffering they felt on the evacuation buses, she expressed tearfully that "we were like prisoners there."
"We had been waiting for 19 hours without food and water. They didn't even allow us to get off the bus," she said.
Bana thanked President Erdoğan for helping her family as she had been among the thousands of people evacuated on Monday from Aleppo.
The evacuations are being conducted under a deal brokered by Turkey and Russia for the evacuation of some 20,000 civilians and fighters from eastern Aleppo to Idlib.