SMANO’WAR

whole tale. He said: o, the BBC got footage by the roadside calling He suddenly notices a t, his son is inside. op and look, others just typical day in Aleppo. r and unzips the bag ‘come on and get up’. omes along to pick up ather says to no one in um is going to be so just 15 to 20 seconds of TV, you understand the suffering and loss more than seeing 100 explosions or 100 gun battles. That man is not an alien species, he is a husband, a father, a son.”

Quentin added: “His war has consequences for us. Just look at the refugee situation. Would you want to stay in Britain if such terrible incidents were an everyday occurrence?

“Aleppo is not some alien planet, it’s a city where people like us live. Syria isn’t some kind of underdeveloped society. It’s a country where people used to live full and normal lives. They are just like you and me.”

Quentin, who spent five years as the BBC’s China correspondent, admits being sent to cover the news in Kabul in Afghanistan in 2010 was a defining moment in his life.

He said: “Afghanistan was the first real war I had covered up close. We lived in Kabul and travelled all over including in Helmand province with British and American troops.

“Even in downtime, we were never off duty. If we heard a bang, we would look at our watches.

“If it was on the hour, we knew it was a controlled explosion by the army. If it wasn’t, we would jump up and head off to find what it was.”

It was in Afghanistan that Quentin, who is now based in Beirut covering Iraq, Libya and Syria, came face to face with evil for the first time and realised that the war we are fighting is unwinnable.

He said: “I went to a prison in Kabul to interview Zara Ajam, who had shot dead Talk in Glasgow on June 2 about his experiences as a journalist in the Middle East. He said: “In my Ted Talk, I’ll be on about the mad, bad, and dangerous to know and why people should let us into their living room.

“I will encourage people not to look away, but to engage, feel and understand. Why? Because it might just make the universe the bit of a better place if they do.

“My job may be dangerous but it’s also thrilling and extremely fulfilling. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.”