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March 30th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Ahmed’s mother and father died in a mortar strike in Salaheddin neighbourhood,
where his father had been working as a fighter with the rebel Free Syrian
Army. Now the only person Ahmed has left is his uncle, a rebel who the boy
follows and imitates as he fights against government soldiers.
In a red jumper and black trousers, Ahmed looks dressed in a uniform for
school. For several weeks now, however, the front line has been his only
playground.
In the video above, the boy, clutching his gun, runs across a road littered
with bullet cartridges, broken electricity cables and strewn possession from
the nearby homes that have long been abandoned by civilians.
A blanket strung across the road punctured with holes and supported by a
barricade made from the metal carcass of a burnt vehicle is the only cover
from enemy government snipers that are stationed just one street away.
The words Ahmed utters are incongruous with his child’s voice:
“There is always something to do here, I am never bored. The fighting has
calmed down a lot from last year, we had a lot of mortars, but snipers are
still a big problem.”
“Sooner or letter the regime will kiss you with one of their bullets,”
he added.
There is little left of the innocent and playful youthfulness of boys of
Ahmed’s age, unnervingly replaced with the mannerisms of a grown man.
In the video footage, Ahmed is seen lounging against his chair, holding his
cigarette with the ease of a chain smoker. His expression is unsmiling and
uncaring. His eyes stare blankly, telling the story of his lost youth.
Aleppo’s front lines are lethal. Riven with snipers and erratically bombarded
by artillery and air strikes, the threat of death hangs in the air.
When The Daily Telegraph visited a rebel group in Salaheddin last month, the
group had lost three men, two of them less than 18 years of age, in the
space two weeks.
Ahmed spends some of his time helping to man one of the front line outposts.
“Weapons are heavy I still have a difficult time shooting them, I can
only shoot resting on the floor,” he said.
Resting his gun on a low rising wall, Ahmed watches for a sighting of a Syrian
government soldier, his small fingers already resting on the trigger, ready
to shoot.
He mainly helps his rebel comrades with chores on the front line. He brings
them tea or resupplies the other fighters with home made grenades and
bullets.
The hours are long and without any pattern.
“There is no schedule or time here in Salaheddin,” he said.
A report by Human Rights Watch has warned that hundreds of children from the
towns worst affected by the conflict in Syria are being trained to take part
in the war. Young boys, mostly from the age of 14 years old are sent on
reconnaissance missions or to smuggle weapons to opposition groups.
Over two years into the conflict that has claimed over 70,000 lives, hundreds
of schools have been forced to close.
With no education, and with many traumatised by the violence or from
witnessing the death of loved ones, a generation of children is being lost
to the Syrian conflict.
In one of the most disturbing moments in the video, Ahmed’s uncle crouches
behind a wall with the little boy and lights a grenade that is in the boy’s
hand. Ahmed throws it over the wall and they wait for the explosion.
The child said he used to enjoy riding his bicycle. Now his favourite pass
time is to play at being a soldier.
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