Aleppo siege: Bana Alabed tweets photo of 'destroyed' home
- Published
Bana Alabed, 7, became internationally renowned for tweeting about life in East Aleppo
A seven-year-old girl who became internationally renowned for tweeting about life in East Aleppo has posted a photo saying her home has been destroyed.
On Tuesday, Bana Alabed posted the picture on Twitter saying she was "happy to be alive".
Bana, who tweets in English with the help of her mother, said her family had come under fierce bombardment.
Aleppo, once Syria's largest city, has been divided by clashes between government allied and rebel forces.
On Monday, government forces captured large swaths of rebel-held territory in the east of the city, following heavy bombing.
Over the weekend, Bana's mother Fatemah, fearing for her life, had bid farewell to her Twitter followers.
But hours later, more tweets emerged saying the family was alive but their home had been destroyed.
Fatemah and her family were on the run following heavy bombings. "We are fighting for our lives. Still with you," she said.
Fatemah, who studied journalism and politics, has been active on Twitter with her daughter since September and has posted details of daily life in the besieged city.
In a conversation with the BBC, she explained that she had taught her daughter English and that Bana's tweets were genuine. "[Bana] wants the world to hear our voice," she said.
The family has dealt with constant food shortages, a lack of medical care, and continual bombardments. Fatemah told the BBC bombs are dropped "without any mercy".
Since the government's advancements in Aleppo over the weekend, some 16,000 civilians have been displaced according to the UN.
Aleppo was Syria's commercial and industrial hub before the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
It has been divided in roughly two for the past four years, with the government controlling the west and rebels the east.
Update 20 January 2017: This story has been revised to attribute descriptions of the damage to the house as it was not possible to verify reports that it had been destroyed.