Would any of us be as brave as these "White Helmets?"
'White Helmets' the true heroes of Syria's devastating conflict
Mary Fitzgerald
PUBLISHED24/09/2016 | 02:30
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Raed Al Saleh, head of the Syrian Civil Defense "White Helmets" Picture: AFP/Getty
They are known locally as the White Helmets because white is the colour of the hard-hats these volunteer rescue workers wear when they rush through the streets of Aleppo and other Syrian cities to the scene of yet another devastating airstrike.
Under their proper name, the Syria Civil Defence, they count some 2,600 volunteers in their ranks, among them bakers, tailors, carpenters, and students. They claim to have saved more than 60,000 lives - often wresting people from the wreckage left behind after the fighter jets of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad or his Russian allies pummel rebel-held territories.
Last month, it was volunteers from the White Helmets who pulled five-year-old Omran Daqneesh from the rubble in Aleppo. The image of Omran's dazed and bloodied face as he later sat in an ambulance went viral.
Founded in 2013, the White Helmets have quietly gone about their emergency and repair work since, but they have recently garnered increasing international attention due to a new Netflix documentary and a campaign to have them awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Over the past week, they have also accused the Assad regime and its allies of deliberately targeting their facilities and personnel in Aleppo after a fragile ceasefire collapsed. The group said three of its four facilities in eastern Aleppo were hit in a wave of early morning air raids on Friday.
Continue reading at:
'White Helmets' the true heroes of Syria's devastating conflict - Independent.ie?
'White Helmets' the true heroes of Syria's devastating conflict
Mary Fitzgerald
PUBLISHED24/09/2016 | 02:30
Raed Al Saleh, head of the Syrian Civil Defense "White Helmets" Picture: AFP/Getty
They are known locally as the White Helmets because white is the colour of the hard-hats these volunteer rescue workers wear when they rush through the streets of Aleppo and other Syrian cities to the scene of yet another devastating airstrike.
Under their proper name, the Syria Civil Defence, they count some 2,600 volunteers in their ranks, among them bakers, tailors, carpenters, and students. They claim to have saved more than 60,000 lives - often wresting people from the wreckage left behind after the fighter jets of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad or his Russian allies pummel rebel-held territories.
Last month, it was volunteers from the White Helmets who pulled five-year-old Omran Daqneesh from the rubble in Aleppo. The image of Omran's dazed and bloodied face as he later sat in an ambulance went viral.
Founded in 2013, the White Helmets have quietly gone about their emergency and repair work since, but they have recently garnered increasing international attention due to a new Netflix documentary and a campaign to have them awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Over the past week, they have also accused the Assad regime and its allies of deliberately targeting their facilities and personnel in Aleppo after a fragile ceasefire collapsed. The group said three of its four facilities in eastern Aleppo were hit in a wave of early morning air raids on Friday.
Continue reading at:
'White Helmets' the true heroes of Syria's devastating conflict - Independent.ie?
