ABU FAHED, A SYRIAN rebel and resident of the district of Eastern Ghouta, was on his way home from work a few weeks ago when he lost five members of his family. He had been building hillforts in Jobar, part of the effort to keep Eastern Ghouta, a hotly contested area on the outskirts of Damascus, in rebel hands. He stopped in at his sister’s home on his way back to the town of Kafr Batna, where he lives.
That’s when Abu Fahed heard aircraft attacks in the area. He quickly made his way home and found it in ruins. “I lost my wife and four children, my two boys and two girls,” Abu Fahed, who uses a nom de guerre, told The Intercept. “My elder son had left home minutes before the attack, and only he survived.”
Once known for its lush gardens and sprawling fruit orchards, Eastern Ghouta is unrecognizable.