The attack by Syrian opposition forces was so swift and unexpected that Abu Obaida only first realised it was happening when he stepped out of his building to go to work and saw a group of rebels passing by.
He lives in the heart of regime-held Aleppo, a city devastated by a brutal four-year war between rebels and regime soldiers, so severe that the International Committee of the Red Cross has described it as “one of the most devastating conflicts in modern times”.
