Plight of the innocent: In between war and hate, 100s of Syrian Children died

When children are taken for granted at the hands of economic power, political stances or just another month long ceasefire, the future that can light up the darkest histories is brought to tears, pain and death. When blocks and board games like Monopoly and tiny vibrant toy cars, are broken and crushed along with the bones of the children, humanity is questioned. Such has been the site in Syria in the past few weeks, where children have been crushed to death. Over 600 civilians have lost their lives, out of which half of them were children. And more than 400,000 people have become witness to the disturbance. A lot of families are now living underground with barely any food and basic necessities for the future of the nation - the children. Medication, milk, toys and ways to stop them from crying, everything is scattered. The family ventures above ground on occasion to use the toilet in a nearby shop. But food scarcity is the biggest concern. The children have a story, each one a plight. Families are traumatized, and children are still not back to normality. 'Ahmad is underweight.... Maram nurses Omar but breast milk is not enough. She feeds him bottles — a mix of flour, water and sugar....' , a story of a family that witnessed the plight.

All shops are closed. Even before the most recent siege, they barely had anything on their shelves.

“The children are crying, they just want a biscuit."

Lives of the Civilian population have become unlivable, hospital has replaced schools, and markets have replaced basements to hide life from death. Families have headed into basements and dank tunnels, with small cook stoves, flour and warm clothes. 'She clutched her dolls close, her deep brown eyes fixed on their faces. Her mother, Nivin Hotary, snapped a photo.'

“Of course, every doll has her own name, and she loves them all,” Ms. Hotary, 38, said. “When I asked her to keep them in the house, she refused and asked me to bring them with us to the basement.”

When the airstrikes intensified, Mr. Habaq and his wife grabbed their daughter and fled into the basement, leaving the fish tank that the child used to watch. On Feb. 23, their home was bombed.

“Every corner of the house was dear to me, but Yasmina’s stuff was the most precious,” the father said.

Here are a few heart breaking images -

The Syrian government has been accused by opposition activists of launching a deadly chlorine gas attack in the rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta. The lives over the last few weeks has become miserable for the tiny ones, while alot of people lost their children, the ones left are struggling to live through the rough patch. -Written and edited by Nimrat Kaur for PTC News