[WATCH] Syrians in Malta plea for aid to people in besieged Aleppo

Syrian community in Malta calls for peace in besieged Aleppo. Video: Raphael Farrugia

The Syrian community in Malta held a demonstration in Valletta against the ongoing siege of the Syrian city of Aleppo.

“Aleppo has been under constant attack for the last three weeks; hospitals and houses are being bombed and doctors are being killed,” Zakaria Alkhatib, a Syrian from Raqqa who has been living in Malta for the past two decades, told MaltaToday. “The civil war started five years ago and we haven’t received any support from the United Nations or Arab governments. Over half a million people have been killed, and nothing is left anymore. If you go to Syria now, you would only see desert and not buildings with beautiful views as it was in the past.”

The group of Syrians gathered outside the law courts, holding placards showing victims of the war with the words ‘Save Aleppo’ and ‘Aleppo is burning’.

They handed leaflets to passers-by, with their pleas on the international community to provide humanitarian aid to Aleppo, including food and fuel for ambulances and hospital.

Around 300 people have been killed in the past two weeks as pro- Syrian government forces and rebels battled for control of Syria’s largest city. The siege threatens a nationwide cessation of hostilities brokered in February by the US and Russia, who support opposing sides in the war.

On Thursday, the Syrian government announced a two-day truce in Aleppo.