Road of fear: Journey through Syria’s divided Aleppo

‘It used to take 10 minutes, but now it takes 10 hours... Our journey from one side of Aleppo to the other is filled with danger,’ says one commuter.

A minibus leaves. About 800 people make the journey each day from the regime side, while roughly the same number leave from the rebel area, said Munir, who runs the bus station. Joseph Eid / AFP Photo

ALEPPO, SYRIA // At dawn Syrian civil servants Abu Asaad and Abu Abdo each begin their commutes across the war-torn city of Aleppo, a once-short journey that now takes 10 hours.

A frontline slices through the former economic hub from north to south, with rebels in control of more than half of the devastated city.

People like 45-year-old Abu Asaad, who works as a driver for the state, must travel for more than 400 kilometres by bus just to get from one side to the other.

They face grave danger as they detour through an area under the control of the ISIL militant group, which has seized large areas in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Until a year ago, residents could cross from one side of Aleppo to the other through a checkpoint at Bustan Al Qasr. But now, because of snipers, it was closed.

After working for 10 days straight in a regime-held neighbourhood, Abu Asaad waits for the bus at a station in the New Aleppo district to go home to Shaar, a rebel area just five kilometres away.

To get there the bus must first cross an area that is under army control, before reaching a desert zone that has become a no-man’s land over the course of the more than three-year civil war.

He and other passengers then risk their lives as their bus drives through Al-Bab, an area of Aleppo province that is controlled by IS. From there, the bus travels back into Aleppo city.

“Before we reach the [ISIL] checkpoint, women climb into the back of the bus and veil their faces completely,” said bus driver Mohammad, who makes the risky journey three times a month.

“They are not allowed to travel alone, according to the laws imposed by the jihadists. So we must make sure they are accompanied by their husband or brother. I check carefully, because I will pay the price if anything goes wrong,” he said.

For Abu Asaad, each journey is now a dive into the unknown.

“A jihadist from Daesh gets on the bus, armed with a sword rather than a Kalashnikov,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.

“He checks everyone’s documents, and forces suspects to get off the bus, threatening them with his weapon. I always say I am a tailor, because if I admit I am a civil servant, they will throw me in jail,” Abu Asaad said.

But all of the forces on the ground – loyalists, ISIL militants and anti-Assad rebels – have their databases.

“One mistake, and you disappear,” he said.

Abu Abdo lives in the rebel district of Sakhur. He too crosses the frontline to get to the ministry where he works.

“Our journey from one side of Aleppo to the other is filled with danger. It used to take 10 minutes, but now it takes 10 hours because of a big detour,” he said.

“There are many checkpoints and dangers along the way, but I must make the journey because I am a civil servant and I have no other source of income. Sometimes, I make the journey twice or three times a week. God have mercy on us,” he said.

The bus ticket price has also shot up because of the war.

It used to cost just 20 Syrian pounds (Dh0.43) to get from one neighbourhood to the other. It now costs 2,500 pounds – or 125 times more – to get from the government to the rebel side.

About 800 people make the journey each day from the regime-controlled side, while about the same number leave from the rebel area, said Munir, who runs the bus station.

People living on both sides say loyalists and rebels demand bribes to let them through their checkpoints, but ISIL poses the biggest danger for drivers.

One said he received 30 lashes because the extremists thought his beard was too short.

Another said he was lashed because he forgot to switch off the radio before he reached the ISIL checkpoint.

A third driver said he spent 48 hours in an ISIL jail, and that he was only set free when he could recite a prayer correctly.

Many passengers make sure to have one last cigarette before climbing on board, because ISIL forbids smoking.

“This is the road of fear. It is absurd to have to drive for hours through the desert to get from one side of the city to the other,” said Abu Ahmad, who travelled to the regime-held side of Aleppo to see his doctor.

“This division of Aleppo is absurd.”

* Agence France-Presse