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7-year-old Aleppo girl back online after falling silent on Twitter

Posted at 6:01 PM, Dec 06, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-06 18:01:33-05

Bana Alabed, the 7-year-old bearing witness to the siege of eastern Aleppo with a flurry of posts, is back on Twitter after her account appeared to have been deleted.

And she’s doing OK, despite the jarring onslaught of her once-grand Syrian city, now a bombed-out shell of its former self.

“Hello my friends, how are you? I am fine. I am getting better without medicine with too much bombing. I miss you. – Bana #Aleppo,” her tweet on Tuesday read.

Bana’s mother created the Twitter account for her daughter in late September to “share our life here to the world” as the Syrian army launched a major offensive to recapture Aleppo.

“Hi I’m Bana,” the @AlabedBana account says in its profile. “I’m 7 years old girl. I and my mom are tweeting live from East Aleppo. Account managed by mom.”

The two have been stuck in the rebel-controlled sections of the eastern part of the city, under fierce assault by the Syrian regime and Russian warplanes.

Their mournful and shocking messages — with videos capturing the sounds of bombing and Bana on camera pleading for help — grabbed the world’s attention.

On Monday, two ominous messages showed up on their popular Twitter account, followed by more than 200,000 people.

First, this:

“We are sure the army is capturing us now. We will see each other another day dear world. Bye.- Fatemah #Aleppo”

The account was later deleted, with no explanation. But then it came back online with a disturbing update.

“Under attack. Nowhere to go, every minute feels like death. Pray for us. Goodbye – Fatemah #Aleppo,” it said.

The tweets spawned anxiety among the account’s followers. The Tuesday message brought some relief and gratification; likes and retweets piled up under the latest tweet.