7-year-old Syrian girl who tweeted from Aleppo shares her story in new book

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Bana Alabed was just three-years-old when the war started in Syria. She was living in Aleppo with her family when bombs started to drop around her.  

Alabed is now eight-years-old and shares her story in a new book called, Dear World: A Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace. 

She says the worst moment for her is remembering when her best friend Yasmin died after an air attack in their neighbourhood.

"They were digging and they held a body and it was Yasmin. She was like sleeping, but she wasn't. She was dead." Alabed tells The Current.

"I feel very sad and I cried. I miss her very much." 

In 2016, the city of Aleppo came under siege. The roads in and out were blocked cutting off food and supplies. The family had stockpiled some rice and macaroni and ate that every day as the bombs continued to fall around them.

It was during this siege that Bana, with the help of her mom Fatemah, started sending messages out, on social media.

"Today my school bombed, my home bombed, my friend died, and my mom and me decided to tweeting," says Alabed. 

Sometimes, her tweets were simple messages, like "Please stop the war, we are tired" or,"Speaking for the children of Aleppo, I demand peace for us." 

Sometimes, she tweeted songs or short videos — sharing her family's plight. 

"I feel happy that the world listen to me," Bana says.

 Today, Alabed has more than 350,000 followers on Twitter. 

Bana's posts weren't without controversy. There were critics who claimed they were fake, or that the child was being used as propaganda by rebel fighters. 
    
But for as long as she kept tweeting, Alabed's posts helped bring a seemingly intractable civil war into the perspective of a child's eye view.

It was December of 2016 when Alabed was able to leave Aleppo during a ceasefire. She remembers the moment when they finally got to eat something other than rice and macaroni. 

"It is the first time I ate chicken and I have a stomach ache and I vomit because I ate fruit and chicken and bread. And I feel happy very much," says Alabed. 

Now Alabed lives in Turkey with her mom, dad and two younger brothers. She's back at school and wants to be a teacher. She still misses Syria and hopes to be able to go home one day. 

Meanwhile, her mom Fatemah marvels at how brave and strong her daughter was during the war.

"You are a hero, Bana, and I am so proud to be your mother." 

Listen to the full interview above.

This segment was produced by The Current's Liz Hoath.