Search
Search

TESTIMONIES FROM IDLIB

Adnan, amateur photographer: 'Tragedy is everywhere'

This week, we are sharing testimonies of people in northwestern Syria affected by the deadly earthquake. Today, we hear the testimony of Adnan, an amateur photographer.

Adnan, amateur photographer: 'Tragedy is everywhere'

Adnan, an amateur photographer in Idlib (Courtesy of Adnan)

It seemed like yet another curse among many.

After more than a decade of bombing by Bashar al-Assad's regime and its Russian ally, the seizure of much of the area by the jihadist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as well as economic and humanitarian crises, Syria's rebel-held northwest was hit yet again — this time by the earthquake at dawn on Feb. 6.

In areas of northwestern Syria controlled by HTS or Ankara-backed rebels, at least 1,347 people have died, according to a provisional death toll.

Left to their own devices, the White Helmets, a local civil defense group, are still trying to lift survivors from the rubble. Meanwhile, residents have been held hostage for several years by the Syrian government and Russia's partial blockade of humanitarian convoys into the area.

This week, L'Orient-Le Jour will give the floor to residents of opposition-held northwestern Syria, where 4 million people live, most of them internally displaced by 12 years of conflict.

Today, we hear the testimony of Adnan, an amateur photographer.

Testimony collected by Noura DOUKHI.

"I woke up [Thursday] morning at 7 a.m. and I immediately grabbed my phone. I had received messages from my friends to organize our trip to Jindires [Aleppo governorate] the same day. We prepared food baskets in Afrin to distribute to the families affected by the earthquake in Jindires."

Read also:

‘You can feel people’s sadness just by looking at them’

"There are so many injured ... Since the destruction of their houses, they live in tents. Their daily life has become very difficult. On Feb. 6, when the earthquake hit Idlib, I felt a strong tremor. I was very scared. Thank God I was spared. I started to contact all my relatives. I found some of them under the rubble, dead ... We managed to save others, trapped under the rubble My pain is immense."

"The earthquake instantly brought back memories of the Syrian regime's bombing raids that were falling on Eastern Ghouta [a suburb of Damascus] where I lived. The feeling was terrifying."

"Before I left everything in 2018, my life was so beautiful. That year, we were attacked by the warplanes and heavy artillery of the regime. Many martyrs fell. Many people were injured. After that, the Syrian regime entered the area and then we fled to the city of Idlib."

Read also:

‘I know we risked our lives’

"The journey was very hard. We arrived by bus. It was so hard to have to leave my home. At that time, death seemed sweeter to me. Life in Idlib is better than under the regime. Despite this, the sadness never leaves me. Tragedy is everywhere. Many people do not have enough to buy food. The living conditions are very difficult."

"I work in loading goods. I have been taking pictures for two years. I do this for myself. Photography allows me to convey the suffering of the innocent."

This article was originally published in French in L’Orient-Le Jour.

It seemed like yet another curse among many.After more than a decade of bombing by Bashar al-Assad's regime and its Russian ally, the seizure of much of the area by the jihadist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as well as economic and humanitarian crises, Syria's rebel-held northwest was hit yet again — this time by the earthquake at dawn on Feb. 6.In areas of northwestern Syria controlled by...