Aleppo:There are no coloured lights, no crowds of shoppers thronging the markets for the holy month of Ramadan in rebel-held Aleppo. Trash lines the roadsides, and a few worried faces make their way past quickly.
While some welcome it, other residents seem wary of the ragtag rebels who have seized of parts of this ancient city, which for months stood on the sidelines of the 16-month revolt against President Bashar Al Assad that has shaken most of the country.
The revolt finally came to Aleppo this month, with rebel fighters from the countryside pouring in with ambitions to “liberate” Syria’s economic centre and its 2.5 million inhabitants. The army has hammered back some areas with helicopter gunships, artillery and mortars.
In some of the slums on the outskirts of the city, men in traditional white robes cluster on the doorsteps of each other’s squat, cinderblock homes. They debate the situation as they wile away the final hours before they can break the daily Ramadan fast for the evening.
Some are excited to be under opposition control, but admit that freedom has been less comfortable than they hoped.
“I would say 99.9 percent of the people aren’t fasting. How can you fast when you hear mortars and artillery hitting the areas nearby and wondering if you will be next?,” said Jumaa, a 45-year old construction worker with deep wrinkles etched into his leathery skin.
“We have hardly any power or water, our wives and kids have left us here to watch the house and have gone somewhere safer. It’s a sad Ramadan.”
Despite that, Jumaa is excited to see rebels on the streets of Syria’s second city. “My spirits are high. Seeing them from my doorstep makes me feel the regime is finally falling.”
Crouched on the next stoop, his neighbour sees it differently.
“All we have now is chaos,” Amr grumbles.
Some of the men object angrily. “But they are fighting to free us from oppression,” one says.
Amr shakes his head. “I’m still oppressed, stuck between two sides making me to choose. I just want to live my life.”
When crowds of children rush to greet Free Syrian Army rebels driving past on flatbed trucks, others grab their mothers’ hand tightly, and stare at the ground.
Rebel fighters, most of whom have come into the city from the countryside, are bewildered by the mixed reception.
“I think many Aleppans want to be rid of the regime but they want us villagers to do it for them, lose our relatives and jobs. They want this without suffering themselves,” said a fighter named Mustafa, who came from a nearby village to fight in Aleppo.
At the market, in a neighbourhood on the city outskirts, most shops are shuttered, and those open have little more than canned and boxed goods.
Each day, vans and taxis crammed with families, pillows and blankets head out of town. Down one alley, a family puts all of its belongings - clothes, beds, closets - into a moving truck.
“We’re going to the country,” says the father. But he refuses to say why. “We just felt like it.”
Closer to the city centre, in the stone alleyways heading toward wealthier areas, there are plenty of fresh vegetables, meat and nuts on offer. But few shoppers are tempted to buy. Some warily eye fighters manning machineguns and checking people’s identifications on nearby streets.
The rebels seem to have their hands full trying to run the parts of the city they control. Gunmen now patrol traffic, smiling at cab drivers who wave and joke with them: “How do you like playing government?”
