Aleppo's 'Anne Frank' tweets daily horrors of war

Seven year old Bana Alabed tweets give a daily account of life inside besieged Aleppo documenting the hunger, death and hopes around her.
2 min read
29 Sep, 2016
Through her mother's words Bana tells of dreams of becoming a teacher [Twitter]
"Good afternoon from Aleppo. I am reading to forget the war."

This tweet comes from a seven-year-old Syrian girl named Bana living in a besieged area of Aleppo.

Her messages to the outside world make for sombre reading with eyewitness accounts from the infant about the horrors and devastation of Syria's war.

Bana Alabed - with the help of her mother - began tweeting earlier this month to document life in an opposition area of Aleppo besieged by regime forces.

Her online story began around the time when a brief truce between the regime and rebels predictably began to disintegrate, when rebel areas of Aleppo witnessed its most devastating bombing yet from Syrian and Russian air raids.

Nearly every day, Bana gives a stark account of the desperation of Aleppo's citizens. The devastation heightened when Syrian and Russian warplanes restarted their bombing campaign and hopes of peace - or at least aid - shattered.

Through her mother Bana tells the world how she hopes to become a teacher when she is older. She also speaks of her mother's fears for her - and her siblings.

One of her friends died after her house collapsed on her after an air raid, she said, a daily reminder of how vulnerable life is for the Syrian child.

A number of commentators have already begun to compare her to the famous Anne Frank who kept a diary while hiding from Nazi forces hunting Jewish citizens during the Second World War.

With the eastern half of Aleppo under a complete siege once again by Syrian regime forces - with foreign correspondents unable to report from the ground - eyewitness accounts such as this are the only way we can find out about life in the devastated city.

Bana's tweets have gained traction, winning her over 1,000 followers since she started tweeting on 24 September.

We hope she stays safe and grows up to become a teacher, and helps the next generation of Syrian children get the education they deserve.