Feature: Medical team in Aleppo lives relatively quiet night after truce

Even though the emergency room in al-Razi hospital in the northern city of Aleppo wasn't completely empty after a ceasefire went into effect Monday evening, but the medical team there was somehow relaxed as the night was relatively quiet after the truce.

Al-Razi is the main hospital to receive those who are injured when a mortar shell would slam government-controlled areas in Aleppo.

As the U.S.-Russian brokered truce went into effect in Syria on Monday, the medical team there was for once relaxed, compared with previous nights that have been thick with pain and grief of the victims.

Muhammad, one of the paramedic, usually takes two night shifts during the week.

On the night of the truce, he said he was for once relaxed that not a lot of people were taken to the emergency room, even though a few number did.

"Before the truce, we used to have busy nights thick with pain of those wounded and the families of victims who had been killed by rebels shelling, but after the truce, the situation has largely declined," he told Xinhua.

Last Saturday, the U.S. and Russia announced they had agreed on achieving a ceasefire in Syria, as the first step toward the political solution.

The Syrian army announced on Monday that the regime of silence will be implemented in all Syrian areas for seven days.

Still, state news agency SANA said the rebels have actually violated the truce in several places, including Aleppo.

Xinhua reporters visiting Aleppo heard on Tuesday the thud of two mortar shells slamming near the Saadallah al-Jabiri square, one of the main squares in Aleppo, under the government control.

Muhammad said a few cases arrived at the hospital the night when the truce went into force.

"Even though the rebels fired some mortars after the truce, but it wasn't as hard as before and we received a few number of wounded people and two martyrs," he said.

His superior, Ali, told Xinhua that three people were killed and over 25 wounded as a result of the shelling after the truce, admitting that this number is small in comparison with what the emergency room had received in the pre-truce times.

"In previous night we would be always on alert, due to the large numbers of wounded people, not to mention those killed. I can say that the coming days will tell about the truce and how well it could hold, but I personally don't trust the rebels," he told Xinhua.

But personally, Ali didn't have much hope about the continuation of the truce, saying previous attempts had shown that the rebels would for sure break the truce.

"We are with the truce and ceasefire and we are also with bringing to a halt of the destruction of our country, but I believe that the rebels are not trustworthy and will not hold on to the ceasefire for a long time," he said.

Yaser, a physician in Razi Hospital, also shared his colleagues' opinion, saying that the night of the truce was calmer than other nights, but remained skeptical about its outlooks.

"We received a few number of wounded people, it was less than previous nights, but given the fact that there is a truce, we shouldn't be receiving wounded people from shelling of the rebels," he said.

Not only the hospital people were less occupied than before, but in the frontline al-Abbara neighborhood, which is adjacent to a rebel-held area called Bab al-Nasr, people said their night was calm and no mortar landed on them.

The rebels in Bab al-Nasr used to shell al-Abbara with many mortar shells and explosive-rigged gas cylinders on daily basis ahead of the truce.

Abu Muhammad, a man from al-Abbara neighborhood who has a 13-member family, said their lives in that neighborhood is a living nightmare.

"We used to have mortar shells striking us every day, but the sad part is that we have become used to this life," he told Xinhua at al-Abbara, where littered glass was seen on the ground from a mortar attack that happened on Monday morning ahead of the truce.

"Yesterday after the truce went into force, our neighborhood was clam, and we felt strange, as we have not slept as peaceful as last night for a very long time. After 7 pm, there was no mortar shells or improvised rockets slamming our area," he said.

Still, the 48-year-old man said he wasn't optimistic about a long-lasting truce.

"I am not optimistic about the continuation of the truce, because I don't trust the rebels as they have violated the previous truce. I would really love to see this truce holding and I am supporting it, but if the rebels are taking advantage to regroup and strengthen themselves, then I am against it," he said.

Another resident of al-Abbara, Saleh, a father of five who runs a supermarket, said "our life here is like a never-ending horror movie. Mortar shells, explosive-laced gas cylinders, slamming us everyday. We have become accustomed to this lifestyle."

But he said that after the truce went into force, nothing slammed or hit their neighborhood.

Al-Abbara, which is a mixture of residential and shopping stores area, was different on Tuesday morning, as tens of children were running and playing, enjoying the second day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, or the Feast of Sacrifice.

They kids ran without fear of a sniper that used to shoot at the passersby in the back alley of al-Abbara.

Known as the Sniper of Bab al-Nasr, a rebel sniper used to disturb people's daily lives when he fires at random targets on al-Abbara.

Even some school children there had dropped out of school for fear of being targeted.

Ahmad Hussain, 18, was one of those dropouts.

"I had dropped out of school, as the situation was so dangerous. One day I was leaving for school, when a sniper from the rebel side shot dead a man near me. I was traumatized," he told Xinhua.

But that unforgettable experience was not his last.

On Monday, the first day of the holiday that should be fun with celebration, Hussain lost one of his friends.

"I was out with friends to celebrate the Eid al-Adha feast, when a mortar shell slammed nearby, many of my friends were wounded, and one of them died," he recounted.

Having mixed feelings as almost all of the people in frontline areas, Hussain said he wants the military to sweep in rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo to rid the city of the insurgents.

"We don't want this truce, every time there is a truce, the rebels continue to fire their mortars. I believe that the military solution is the best to face those people. But if the truce was real and they respect it, then I would surely welcome it," he said.

Even though the truce was breached more than one time on Tuesday, but the intensity of the clashes have largely declined, and Aleppo was quiet in terms of the sound of mortars, but noisy and busy with young people celebrating the Eid feast in the Mokambo district, which is punctuated with high-end restaurants. Endit