Aleppo’s little Twitter girl is safe
The seven-year-old Syrian girl whose tweets gave the world an insight into the desperation of civilians in besieged eastern Aleppo was among those rescued from the beleaguered city yesterday.
Bana Al Abed arrived safely with her family at a camp in Idlib province, the Humanitarian Relief Foundation said. “This morning @AlabedBana was also rescued from #Aleppo with her family,” the Turkish NGO tweeted, sharing an aid worker’s selfie with the girl.
Turkey’s Anadolu news agency posted a short interview with Bana, who was dressed in a coat and hat against the winter chill.
“In Aleppo the shelling was all over the place. We got out from the ruins because our house was bombed,” she said shyly in Ara- bic. Assisted by her mother, Bana tweeted in English to recount the hardships faced by residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo after three months under government siege and heavy bombardment by militias and other forces loyal to the Assad regime.
She also used her Twitter account to plead for help from world leaders.
Also evacuated from the city yesterday was Zouhir Al Shimale, a contributor to The National’s coverage of the humanitarian crisis in eastern Aleppo.
“Have just arrived [in Idlib province] with my old brother, was a horrible trip, now thousands r waiting to leave in difficult circumstances From #Aleppo to #Idlb,” he tweeted.