Daily air strikes and bombs prompted Syrian father Abdullah Mohammad to come up with a new way to help his daughter Salwa adapt to the sounds of war. He encourages the three-year-old to simply laugh whenever she hears the sound of bombs or missiles. In video footage obtained by Reuters, Mohammed is seen laughing with his daughter as the sound of an apparent explosion is heard in the distance.
واعد Ù€ ÙˆØدة الرصد|| صØÙŠÙÂÂÂØ© (غارديان) البريطانية: أب سوري من #إدلب يلعب مع ابنته الصغيرة عند سقوط كل قذيÙÂÂÂØ© أثناء القصÙ الروسي وقصÙ قوّات نظام بشار الأسد؛ ليجعلها تعتقد أنها أصوات ألعاب، بهدÙ Øمايتها من الإصابة بمرض Ù†ÙÂÂÂسي؛ جرّاء القنابل المرعبة التي تنهال على الأهالي هناك يوميًا. pic.twitter.com/lDQadAdpRJ
— وكالة أنباء العراق الدولية - واعد (@wa3ediq) February 17, 2020
Mohammad noted that many children suffer psychological hardships and stress due to the daily air strikes. He said that he managed to convince his daughter that these noises are similar to sounds of fireworks and that they are nothing to be scared of.
Air strikes drove his family far from his hometown of Saraqib in northwest Syria, forcing him to live at his friend's house with his wife and daughter in Sarmada.
The 32-year-old said he hoped for a restored sense of normalcy, and a proper education for his daughter, in the near future.
Backed by heavy Russian air strikes and aided by pro-Iranian militias, government forces have intensified since the start of the year their campaign to recapture the Aleppo countryside and parts of neighboring Idlib province in the far northwest of Syria where anti-Assad insurgents hold their last strongholds.