The Horror Unfolding In Aleppo, In Numbers

Since mid-November, bombardment of one of Syria's largest cities has been destroying homes and health care facilities and killing and injuring civilians.

By
Rose Troup Buchanan
by Rose Troup Buchanan

BuzzFeed News Reporter

White Helmets / Via Facebook: SCDaleppo

Five years since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Aleppo, one of the largest cities in the country, has become the focal point of the conflict. Government-supported forces occupy the west of the city, while rebel forces continue to hold the besieged eastern part of the city – despite being completely surrounded by regime forces since the summer.

Since mid-November, both the east and west of the city have been struck by bombardments: destroying homes and health care facilities, and killing and injuring numerous civilians.

Here's what the destruction of Aleppo looks like in numbers.

WARNING: This post contains images many viewers may find distressing.

1,000: People reportedly injured in eastern Aleppo in the last week alone

Sultan Kitaz / Reuters

0: Fully operational hospitals in the east of the city

Abd Doumany / AFP / Getty Images

The World Health Organization (WHO) paints a grim picture of the medical situation on the ground. However, some facilities continue to function, mostly in form of underground bunkers, makeshift adapted flats, and what one doctor — who's now in Chicago but who worked in Aleppo prior to its encirclement — described as "field hospitals."

A newly repaired maternity hospital, the only one in the east of the city, was struck by a bombardment and entirely destroyed earlier this week.

30: Doctors still working in eastern Aleppo

Abd Doumany / AFP / Getty Images

This includes the only female gynecologist left in the rebel-held part of the city.

0: Senior pediatricians in east Aleppo

Dr. Moaz with a patient in Aleppo in February. Independent Doctors Association / Via Facebook: TheSyriaCampaign

Dr Muhammad Waseem Moaz was killed in April in an airstrike. He was the last still working. There are an estimated 10,000 children in rebel-held areas.

113: Medical personnel killed in the province since the city was besieged

Miguel Medina / AFP / Getty Images

More than 750 medical personnel have died in Syria during the conflict, according to the latest report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Since the outbreak of war, two-thirds of medical professionals have left the country, according to Elizabeth Hoff, the WHO's Syria representative.

143: Civilians killed in east Aleppo in the past 10 days

Thaer Mohammed / AFP / Getty Images

19: Children killed in east Aleppo in the past 10 days

Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters

In total, estimates suggest more than 300 people – including combatants from both sides – have been killed in the city in the past week.

10: Days since the last shipment of food from World Food Programme was distributed to eastern Aleppo

Abdalrhman Ismail / Reuters

The UN’s humanitarian adviser, Jan Egeland, warned then that unless new aid was delivered there would be no food to give to residents the following week.

Three days ago Stephen O'Brian of the OCHA said only a “handful of rations from local NGOs remain” in the east of the city.

136: Days since the east of the city has been encircled by Syrian and Russian forces, effectively cutting it off from the outside world

Karam Al-masri / AFP / Getty Images

Although the blockade was briefly punctured in August, the combined tide of Russian air power and the Syrian government's perseverance has resulted in the net tightening once again around the rebel-held parts of the city.

Significantly, no substantial international aid has been able to reach those inside the besieged area. Some groups (like Al-Sham Humanitarian Foundation – pictured above) have managed to get small packets of aid into the rebel-held areas.

16: Civilian deaths, including 10 children, in west Aleppo, since strikes began again 10 days ago

George Ourfalian / AFP / Getty Images

More than 25,000 people have been displaced from the west of the city. A UN official, speaking in August, said among those displaced were 12,000 children.

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