Teenager Films Airstrikes From East Damascus Rooftop in Plea for Help

A teenager in East Damascus who bore witness as airstrikes hit his town documented the scene from a nearby rooftop while warplanes could be heard overhead.

Since December 9, Muhammed Najem has filmed himself and his younger cousin Raghed speaking in English about the bombing on East Damascus, a lack of food and water, and urgently needed medical supplies. He says he is fifteen years old. Storyful cannot independently confirm the identities of these two children.

In one video filmed on a rooftop, airstrikes are audible in the background, and Muhammed says in English, “We are killed by your silence.”

He also posted videos photos taken from a local hospital of a baby who has sustained terrible injuries in airstrikes on East Damascus, and expressed solidarity with another baby in East Damascus Kareem, who lost an eye as a result of the bombardment of the area.

Muhammed wears a Syrian opposition flag around his neck in some of the videos and says the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad is responsible for the siege and bombardment of East Damascus.

There are multiple activist accounts on Twitter showing children in East Damascus living through the war. Credit: Twitter/muhammad najem via Storyful