Syrian doctor fears more civilian casualties as road to rebel-held Aleppo cut
Today marks exactly four years since the battle of Aleppo in Syria broke out — and the situation is even more dire.
Rebel-held parts of Aleppo — and the civilians who live there — are under siege. Troops allied with Bashar al-Assad's government have now cut off a critical supply route into the city, putting a chokehold on the flow of food, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid citizens rely on for survival.
There are still more than 300,000 people living in Aleppo. Dr. Zaher Sahloul tells The Current's Laura Lynch that the circumstances are becoming increasingly dangerous and desperate now that Syrian forces have cut off the only road leading in and out of rebel-held parts of the city.
"The world has ignored this city," says Sahloul. "You have physicians who are working every day to save lives, in spite of knowing that they can be killed any day and we should not let them down."
Sahloul is a clinical care specialist who frequently visits Aleppo on behalf of the Syrian American Medical Society, a non-profit humanitarian group. He was there two weeks ago to "bear witness" and provide medical aid to civilians and says there's an increase of patients dying because they can no longer be transferred to Turkey for treatment.
Medical staff are short-handed with very limited capacity, Sahloul tells Lynch.
"There's only one vascular surgeon. The only functioning CT scanner right now is not working... There's a huge shortage of certain things especially anesthesia medications, pain medications and of course surgeons."
Beyond the needs for medical care, there is also the issue of food shortage, says Sahloul.
"Today and yesterday my colleagues are telling me that there is a shortage of bread shortage of meat and people are worried that war will come."
Living with what Sahloul has seen in the hospitals in Aleppo is "not easy" to forget.
"It takes a few weeks for me and my colleagues who go into medical missions to Syria to recover from the trauma that we see."
He says the dedication physicians have made to civilians in Aleppo, their only chance for care is admirable.
"I'm a critical care specialist so I see life and death in Chicago every day but you cannot imagine the situation of doctors and nurses ... they could've left like many of the other physicians who left Aleppo and other cities but they chose to stay because their people need them."
Sahloul says given the need for physicians he would "love to go back" to help.
"As a critical care specialist, as a humanitarian and as a physician who was trained in Syria, I feel this is my duty."
Listen to the full conversation at the top of this web post including how the siege of Aleppo shapes the conflict.
This segment was produced by The Current's Marc Apollonio, Sarah Grant, Shannon Higgins, Sujata Berry and Peggy Lam.