​​​​​​​Where did the Damascus government siege on Sheikh Maqsoud -Ashrafieh reach?

The siege imposed on the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh about 5 years ago affected all aspects of life in them, especially after it intensified since August of last year. And it led to two deaths among children.

Humanity is threatened

In human terms, two children have lost their lives so far; Wissam Sido (4 years) and the infant Hussein Kibar (17 days old) as a result of the severe cold, in addition to the children staying in the Martyr Khaled Fajr Hospital - which lacks many types of medicines due to the siege - and they receive treatment there according to the available capabilities.

In order to alleviate the burden of the siege on the patients, the hospital is running out of its reserve stock of medicines and infant formula, according to hospital administrators.

Hundreds of patients visit the hospital every day. With the intention of treatment, most of them suffer from respiratory diseases, the rate of which has increased in the recent period to reach (40) patients per day, and the common diseases are bronchitis, asthma, and allergies; Due to the lack of adequate means of heating.

In order to provide the hospital with electricity, fuel is supplied by merchants in large sums, after their stock of fuel has been depleted in order to continue serving the people.

The "Fourth Division" prevents many organizations that promised before the siege to support the disabled, including the "Kobe" Organization, from entering the two neighborhoods, and even prevented the relief shipments of the Syrian Red Crescent to be distributed on time.

Fight against the cold

The winter of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh, and al-Shahba district is known for its low temperatures. to be below zero at times, and with the loss of fuel for heating, the lives of hundreds of thousands become in danger, especially children and the elderly; Because their bodies are immune to disease.

Most families struggle with everything they have; To preserve its health and the health of their children from the cold in most cases, due to the lack of heating materials on the one hand and the lack of medicines on the other.

In order to face the siege and the cold, the people resort to breaking the furniture of their homes, including wooden tables, chairs, and everything considered "complements"; To put it in the heaters and ignite it, in addition to collecting previous waste from the ready-made clothing industry, such as fabric, plastic, and others. in order to burn it.

A blockade disrupts the economy

As for the economic aspect, more than 1,200 workshops for the ready-to-wear industry in its various branches have stopped. Because of the rise in diesel prices, the price of a barrel of which has reached about two million and 300 thousand pounds, if any.

In addition, more than (40) factories for the manufacture of batteries, which are based in the Shaqif region, have stopped working at a time when they were supervising a large part of the internal requests for the various Syrian regions.

the most affected by this situation; Workers who work to secure their daily sustenance.

Services are postponed until further notice

Many civil institutions are working to educate the people, especially the communes that work to organize ways of distributing bread equally to all the people, in addition to managing their affairs, with the exception of service matters.

The lack of fuel led the People's Municipality to take a decision to stop all projects and machineries from operating in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods. to provide as much fuel as possible to ensure the continuity of the waste collection trucks; In order to avoid many environmental and health problems that will be left by the issue of waste accumulation.

Despite all these tragic conditions experienced by the people of the two neighborhoods, they affirm that they have gone through more difficult circumstances and “darker” days than these days. During the attacks of the Turkish occupation army's mercenaries on the two neighborhoods, which were met with unparalleled resistance, in which the people of Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood embodied the people's revolutionary war on the ground.

T/Satt.

ANHA