When an unregistered car hit a doctor who had been walking in the streets, the driver, who was wearing military clothes, took no concern for the woman, whose blood spilled into the streets, but continued on his way as if nothing had happened.
This was not a scene from an American film but happened in one of the best-known streets in the great city of Aleppo, the city where thousands of those in military uniforms paid in blood for security to be returned and where people walk the streets in safety.
Before 24 hours had passed, people of the city woke to news of an incident where a person from the popular committees fired on players of the Ittihad team with a "pump-action” rifle, simply because they had bothered him as they called on their teammate to come to the club.
A source in the Ittihad club told Al-Khabar TV that “the aggressor accused the Ittihad players of bothering him after they went to the house of their teammate, who was a neighbor of the attacker, and knocked on his door to go to team training. There was an argument between them, and the person stabbed the players and then shot with a pump-action rifle at others.”
Players Hossam al-Omar and Abdel Latif Salqini were stabbed with a knife, while gunshots wounded Youssef Asil and Mohamad al-Ahmad, who was seriously injured, according to the source. The security forces managed to arrest the attacker after he attempted to flee across neighbors’ roofs.
The General Command of the Syrian army about a week ago issued a call to “all units, formations, departments and military checkpoints to withdraw traffic facilitation and weapons-carrying cards from all military and civilian authorities to be duly destroyed, with only cards issued by the national security office approved for traffic facilitation.” The decision was met with widespread public relief, but its implementation in Aleppo, it seems, is in need of an iron hand, and a real desire to return the city to normal life.
Walking in Aleppo city you can see innumerable cars with tinted windows and without number plates, whose drivers have no problem shooting here or there for fun or to clear the way.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
