Powerful ‘bus barricade’ photo in Syria goes viral

An incredible picture showing buses being used as a barricade to protect Syrian civilians from sniper fire is being widely circulated on the anniversary of the bloody conflict, which has now entered its fifth year.

Three single-decker buses were turned vertically upright in a street in Aleppo to protect civilians from sniper fire. In the viral photo, a young child walks past the makeshift barrier undeterred.

Four years on, images taken in the war-ravaged country continue to highlight the plight of civilians.

Aleppo AFP bus

The war in Syria started as street protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime but turned violent when the protests were violently crushed and opposition groups took up arms to fight government forces.

The situation further escalated when neighboring countries were drawn into the conflict, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militant group rose to the fore.

The conflict has left more than 200,000 people dead and almost half of Syria’s 23 million people displaced, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The civilian death toll includes 10,808 children and nearly 7,000 women, according to the observatory.