Aleppo was once Syria’s largest city and the country’s commercial and industrial hub. As of 2012, Aleppo has been divided into two sides – with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces controlling the west and rebel factions in the east.

James Longman is in Beirut, covering the war for the BBC and spoke to Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal about recent bombings.

“We saw a water tank, a major water pump being bombed,” says Longman. “A major warehouse full of medicine and food, ran by the local humanitarian aid groups in Red Crescent, that was bombed [and] no longer available for people.”

Barrel bombs are being dropped on medical facilities, there’s an enormous humanitarian crisis, with more than 250,000 people living in the contested part of Aleppo. Those people have been warned by the government to leave or face the risk of death.