I am pleased to announce the publication of my latest book: a translation of the memoir "When the Paths of the Sky Become Crowded."
The original author Nour Kourko, a scholar from the Twelver Shi'a town of Nubl in north Aleppo countryside, tells the story of a trip to Damascus in 2021 and how various scenes take her back to memories of the period 2012-2016, during which the insurgents besieged Nubl and al-Zahara' (the latter also a Shi'a village, located next to Nubl). The siege was eventually broken in February 2016 when the Syrian army at the time, backed by Russian airpower and supported by ground personnel from Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (including Iranians and Afghan Hazara personnel), managed to reach Nubl and al-Zahara'. The breaking of the siege was part of the wider offensive in the Aleppo area that sought to encircle and expel the insurgents from the eastern parts of Aleppo city- a goal that was accomplished in December 2016, and a development that was widely seen at the time as a decisive turning point in favour of the Assad regime during the war.
The memoir contains many fascinating details that will be of great interest to any observer and historian of the Syrian civil war. For example, what was the role of Hezbollah and Iran in providing support to Nubl and al-Zahara' during the siege period? What were relations like with the 'Afrin canton' to the north that was controlled at the time by the Democratic Union Party and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), which came to form the backbone of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces? How were some people smuggled out of Nubl and al-Zahara' to Turkey and then back into Syria so they could escape the siege and go to other parts of the country that were held by the regime?
If you are interested in purchasing a paperback copy of this book or the PDF version, please contact me.