0:00:02 > 0:00:07This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Aleppo, a city under siege. SIREN WAILS
0:00:10 > 0:00:11TRANSLATION:
0:00:17 > 0:00:19A quarter of a million people are trapped...
0:00:22 > 0:00:25..living in the bombed-out streets of Syria's biggest city.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30- WOMAN:- If you don't have any money to go out of Aleppo,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32how you can go?
0:00:32 > 0:00:35As the battle for Aleppo intensifies...
0:00:35 > 0:00:37EXPLOSION
0:00:39 > 0:00:41..four local cameramen film for Panorama.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44TRANSLATION:
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Based in the rebel-held east,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51they witness the struggle to survive
0:00:51 > 0:00:53in a city devastated by years of war.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Ismail is alone in Aleppo.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35His family are among the hundreds of thousands who have fled the
0:01:35 > 0:01:37city since Syria's civil war
0:01:37 > 0:01:39reached here in 2012.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41HE COUGHS
0:01:43 > 0:01:46My life has changed completely.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I was an English teacher before.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51I was teaching kids.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56He lives in rebel-held territory.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59EXPLOSION
0:01:59 > 0:02:00The bombing is constant.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09I feel at home when I walk in the streets.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13I can say my heart is the city and Aleppo is the heart of Syria.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19If I leave, who will stay and help the people
0:02:19 > 0:02:20who are staying here?
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Ismail is a volunteer with Aleppo's Civil Defence Force,
0:02:30 > 0:02:32the White Helmets.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35In the very beginning of the bombing, the first bombing on my
0:02:35 > 0:02:36city was on the market.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42And I saw the suffering, I saw the bodies on the street.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45I saw people screaming.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49When you see someone suffers and they need your help,
0:02:49 > 0:02:50you must help them.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Every day Ismail scans the sky for the helicopters and warplanes
0:03:00 > 0:03:02flying over his city.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08He's being filmed by cameramen,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11asked by Panorama to record the lives of people trapped
0:03:11 > 0:03:13behind the front line.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15They've been filming for the last month.
0:03:16 > 0:03:1926-year-old Rahmo drives a taxi.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26TRANSLATION:
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46is tightening his grip on rebel positions in East Aleppo.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50TRANSLATION:
0:03:58 > 0:04:02The city is 30 miles from the Turkish border.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04So whoever controls Aleppo,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07controls the most crucial supply route into Syria.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13People live with the constant threat of death.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19TRANSLATION:
0:04:55 > 0:04:59CHILDREN LAUGH
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Mahmoud is another dad worried about his children.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11TRANSLATION:
0:05:14 > 0:05:18He used to be an estate agent. He didn't leave when he could.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Now there's no way out.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23TRANSLATION:
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Mahmoud says he still can't believe the democracy protests four years
0:05:47 > 0:05:50ago ended in bloody civil war.
0:05:53 > 0:05:59TRANSLATION:
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Aleppo is one of the oldest cities in Syria
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and used to be its economic heart.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Its ancient streets, a World Heritage Site,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22now lie in ruins.
0:06:27 > 0:06:28Arwa was born here.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Staying is her act of resistance.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35TRANSLATION:
0:06:41 > 0:06:45She was 14, and already married, when the war started.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52TRANSLATION:
0:07:01 > 0:07:04She is now a single mother with a four-year-old daughter.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09TRANSLATION:
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Government forces control western Aleppo,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and since July they've been laying siege to the east.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30They say it's become a base for Islamist militants.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34The rebels are fighting back.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37All across the city, people are suffering.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47Basim, one of the cameramen, is out filming with Rahmo, the taxi driver.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49They get a call about a bombing.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53TRANSLATION:
0:08:00 > 0:08:03When they get there, they find their car is destroyed.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06A barrel bomb has exploded nearby.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09TRANSLATION:
0:08:24 > 0:08:25The barrel, packed with explosives,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28is pushed from a government helicopter.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30It kills 15,
0:08:30 > 0:08:3111 are children.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:08:41 > 0:08:43Beep-beep, beep-beep.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47TRANSLATION:
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Essential services are also being targeted.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07Mahmoud's daughter, Shahad, fetches water. There is none in their flat.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12They are luckier than most. There's a tap in the building.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Other families have to wait for water to come to them.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20TRANSLATION:
0:09:39 > 0:09:42The White Helmet volunteers wait for the next bomb.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45EXPLOSION
0:09:54 > 0:09:58Reports are coming in of government helicopters in their area.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01OVER RADIO:
0:10:11 > 0:10:13OVER RADIO:
0:10:23 > 0:10:25OVER RADIO:
0:10:29 > 0:10:30EXPLOSION
0:10:38 > 0:10:40It's another barrel bomb.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43They're often dropped in twos.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Ismail and his team wait.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52EXPLOSION
0:10:52 > 0:10:54SIREN WAILS
0:10:57 > 0:10:59TRANSLATION:
0:12:21 > 0:12:26SCREAMING
0:12:28 > 0:12:31SIRENS WAIL
0:13:24 > 0:13:26At least 15 people are killed,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29some as they sought safety in an air-raid shelter.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Among the dead are children.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Maryam, whose mother had been desperately trying to find her,
0:13:36 > 0:13:37survived.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Most of the victims had been attending the funeral of
0:13:42 > 0:13:45those killed by the barrel bomb two days earlier.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08When I got back to my centre,
0:14:08 > 0:14:14I felt myself that maybe one day, one of my friends or one of
0:14:14 > 0:14:18my family will be in the same situation
0:14:18 > 0:14:21that I saw in that massacre.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23So I was so scared, I was so scared.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29How we can forget this picture?
0:14:29 > 0:14:31And there's something that...
0:14:31 > 0:14:34This is happening every day in Aleppo City.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Around 90,000 children are trapped here.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43EXPLOSION
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Many families didn't have the money to escape.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Arwa works at a nursery underground.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Children come here when the bombing gets really bad.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13TRANSLATION:
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Four years of this have left them deeply traumatised.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51TRANSLATION:
0:16:30 > 0:16:33TRANSLATION:
0:17:02 > 0:17:06When Rahmo is not driving a taxi, he works as an ambulance driver.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14TRANSLATION:
0:17:23 > 0:17:26There aren't many ambulances left in Aleppo,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28and most hospitals have been bombed.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34TRANSLATION:
0:17:47 > 0:17:52Rahmo can't afford to drive his taxi any more. The fuel's too expensive.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57TRANSLATION:
0:18:05 > 0:18:09TRANSLATION:
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Three weeks into filming,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53the Syrian government and its Russian ally
0:18:53 > 0:18:54agree to a ceasefire.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01It's just in time for Eid, an important Muslim festival.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03The local market is busy.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09TRANSLATION:
0:19:35 > 0:19:38For now, there's enough food, but it's expensive.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46TRANSLATION:
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Eventually, Mahmoud finds what he's looking for.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10TRANSLATION:
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Bread used to cost around 15 pence.
0:20:19 > 0:20:20Now it's ten times that.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24TRANSLATION:
0:20:33 > 0:20:35Mahmoud is running out of money.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44TRANSLATION:
0:21:04 > 0:21:08MUSIC PLAYS
0:21:08 > 0:21:11Despite the siege, Basim, one of the cameramen,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13has decided to get married.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15His friends throw a party.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21It's traditional for them to dress the groom.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:21:26 > 0:21:30THEY CHANT
0:21:39 > 0:21:42TRANSLATION:
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Away from the cameras, Basim joins his bride.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14THEY SING
0:22:17 > 0:22:19OVER RADIO:
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Ismail and his White Helmet volunteers are on call again.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29THEY CHANT
0:22:31 > 0:22:34TRANSLATION:
0:22:56 > 0:22:58COCK CROWS
0:22:58 > 0:23:01BIRDS SING
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Ismail is back at the scene of the barrel bomb attack,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12which killed at least 15 people at a funeral.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59It's this shelter some of the people who died were trying to get to.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22The cameramen record many small acts of resistance.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Children burn tyres,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29hoping the smoke will hide their streets from the planes above.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34TRANSLATION:
0:24:44 > 0:24:48This man is trying to fight back with balloons.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53TRANSLATION:
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Eid celebrations are in full swing.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37But the ceasefire already looks fragile.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42TRANSLATION:
0:26:29 > 0:26:32After a week, the ceasefire breaks.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Aircraft return to the skies.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38TRANSLATION:
0:26:40 > 0:26:45TRANSLATION:
0:27:06 > 0:27:12TRANSLATION:
0:27:24 > 0:27:29TRANSLATION:
0:27:43 > 0:27:45The Assad government continues to deny
0:27:45 > 0:27:47that East Aleppo is under siege.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Over the weekend, the bombardment was so intense,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54it wasn't safe for the cameramen to film.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Ismail's base has been bombed.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00He's alive, but scared.