Seven-year-old Bana Alabed, whose viral Twitter account depicted the siege of Aleppo, was safely evacuated from the city by aid workers on Monday.
The girl, along with her mother Fatemah, were among the thousands of people evacuated by buses and ambulances out of besieged eastern Aleppo as part of the ceasefire deal reached late last week to clear the city and hand it over to government control.
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Speaking to reporters, Fatemah said she was glad to have finally reached safety but expressed regret that she was forced out of her home city.
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“Me and Bana want to tell all the world how much kids and old people in east Aleppo, how much they are suffering from bombs and everything, because there is no life there,” Bana’s mother said. “And we are happy because our voice reached to all the world and we are feeling…I am sad because I leave my country, I leave my soul there.”
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Alabed’s Twitter account depicted daily life of bombardments and clashes in Aleppo and often sent heartfelt pleas to the world to help the citizens of the besieged city. Last week, the account shared “final messages” after reports emerged of Syrian government troops executing civilians in what the United Nations called “a complete meltdown of humanity in Aleppo.”
“Final message – I am very sad no one is helping us in this world, no one is evacuating me & my daughter. Goodbye.- Fatemah #Aleppo,” the account tweeted.
“Final message – people are dying since last night. I am very surprised I am tweeting right now & still alive. – Fatemah #Aleppo,” reads another tweet.
“My name is Bana, I’m 7 years old. I am talking to the world now live from East #Aleppo. This is my last moment to either live or die. – Bana,” reads another.
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After being evacuated, Alabed’s mother told reporters she and her family were happy for their freedom but they do not want to be refugees.
“I want to take our freedom there but not be like refugees in other countries. I want for my kids’ good future. But this is the matter here. They make us leave our country,” Fatemah told reporters. “We can’t stay there because there are a lot of bombs, and no clean water, no medicine. Even they are targeted hospitals and schools.
“When we get out, we had a lot of suffering because we stayed almost 24 hours in bus without water and food or anything. We stayed like a prisoner, a hostage but finally we arrived here and we thank God and we thank all our friends who had supported us,” the mother said.
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Nearly 330,000 social media users followed Alabed’s Twitter account, which had gone silent in the past and was criticized as either being fake or a “propaganda” tool.
–with a file from the Associated Press
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