MGexting.
Machine gun in right hand. Cell phone in left. On duty on the gun-truck’s machine gun, at 80 miles an hour into Aleppo, checking messages along the way.
Even as the war in Syria rages, large areas of the countryside have cellular phone coverage, and the fighters are constantly checking their phones. When they stop, many of them immediately look for ways to recharge their phone batteries. And, often as they move and enter an area with a strong signal, they commence texting back and forth.
(Bryan and I are back from Aleppo and will be holed up tomorrow writing and editing. There is much to tell of this trip. But first we have to empty the notebooks and get the main story, slide show and video wrapped up. Then we will spend time here.)
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Ahmed Sheikha, 20, from Latakia, on the PK-variant. Mr. Sheikha, who defected from the Syrian Army about six weeks ago, now fights in Aleppo for the al-Tawhid Brigade, waging war against his former bunkmates. By the author. A few days ago.
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