Driving fearlessly under skies free of warplanes and bombs, taxi drivers in Syria’s divided second city, Aleppo, are counting on a fragile truce to revive their trade.
One week into the ceasefire in parts of Syria, the country’s iconic yellow taxis are slowly filling the rubble-strewn streets.
Ayoub, 27, lives in the rebel-controlled Bustan al-Qasr District, which falls along the front lines in the center of the city.
“The bombardment and the fact that people were being displaced had a huge effect on our trade,” the father of two said.
With residents of Aleppo either fleeing for Turkey or staying at home in fear of airstrikes, drivers could barely find any customers.
Rebel-held territories in particular were regularly being hit by airstrikes and barrel bombs, while government districts in the west faced daily rocket attacks.
However, when Syria’s truce began on Feb. 27, residents of heavily bombed streets began gradually descending on markets and parks.
“Since the truce came into place, we started working again, thank God. People feel safe now because the truce has stopped the shelling and the air strikes,” Ayoub said.
Before the ceasefire, he used to linger on street corners hoping to pick up a customer. Other days, he did not have enough money for petrol.
Ayoub now energetically begins his day by dusting off his classic yellow taxi and drinking a small cup of potent coffee from a local brewer.
Wahid, a driver in his 40s living in the Mashhad neighborhood of Aleppo, is thrilled that he can once again spend his days driving through his city.
“Before the truce, I didn’t dare leave my home during the day because of the daily strikes from Russian warplanes on parts of Aleppo,” Wahid said.
Strikes would start from the early morning and last throughout the afternoon, forcing Wahid to work at night “when the skies weren’t full of planes,” he said.
“Things have gotten better and the number of customers has increased,” he added.
With his young daughter beside him, Abu Mohammad, 26, weaves through the gray streets of the eastern al-Sukari District.
“I’m on my way to visit my brother. I’m no longer afraid after the shelling decreased because of the truce,” he said.
When fighting in Aleppo first broke out in mid-2012, the yellow cabs saw a significant drop in business as people stayed home or left the city altogether.
And once the metropolis — Syria’s former economic hub — split into government-and rebel-controlled halves, the taxi trade was hit even harder.
Cars had difficulty crossing into neighborhoods controlled by opposing sides and an economic crisis meant residents often opted for cheaper buses or shared cabs instead of taxis. Access into and out of the city became dangerous, making it difficult to get fuel to drive at all.
Cars became a luxury in Aleppo, both for taxi drivers and regular residents who drove themselves to work before the war.
Abu Mohammad, a carpenter in the Zabdiyah neighborhood, recently sold his car and has begun using taxis to get to work.
“I was forced to sell my personal car out of fear there would be a siege on the city, because I thought money in my pocket would be better than a car in the street with no gas,” he said.
Like many other daily necessities throughout Syria’s war, the price of a taxi ride has shot up.
Abu Mohammad said he pays 300 Syrian pounds (US$1.36) to get to work every day, while a trip from one end of the city to the other cost 75 Syrian pounds before the conflict began.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese