“Why can’t you stop the war?”
Seven-year-old Syrian refugee Bana Alabed made this heartbreaking appeal to the world Wednesday morning: Stop the carnage that’s dragged on for six years in Syria and killed hundreds of thousands of her countrymen, including children.
“I want (them) to stop the war, and I want the children of Syria to play and go to school and live in peace,” Bana told CNN’s “New Day.” “Together we can help them. Together we can save them.”
The child’s appeal comes as the international community expressed shock and outrage at reports of a suspected chemical attack Tuesday that killed scores of civilians in northwestern Syria.
Bana became the face of the human toll of Syria’s conflict last year when she shared her experiences from the besieged city of Aleppo via Twitter. She and her family have been living in Turkey since fleeing Aleppo in December.
“I am very sad,” Bana told “New Day” anchor Alisyn Camerota as she spoke from Ankara via Skype. “A lot died and no one helped them. The world is watching. The world doesn’t do anything.”
Bana and her mother, Fatemah Alabed, who also appeared on the program, left little doubt about whom they blame for the violence that’s cost so many lives.
“Yes,” Bana replied simply when asked if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the death and destruction.
Activists said the Syrian regime was responsible for Tuesday’s suspected chemical attack, which killed at least 70 people, including children.
Assad’s military denied using chemical weapons and blamed rebels for the carnage. Russia, Syria’s strong ally, said it had no warplanes in the vicinity.
In another poignant moment of the interview, Bana asked Camerota why the world had so far done so little to intervene.
“I don’t know Bana,” the CNN anchor said. “I don’t know why the world can’t stop the war in Syria.”