ALEPPO, Syria — A little before dark, large numbers of people line up in an orderly fashion near a charity that has announced it will be distributing daily meals to poor families during Ramadan.

These days, one doesn't see the throngs of people in the streets typical of Ramadan. Many of the inhabitants have fled, some killed and others wounded by the barrel bombs the Syrian regime drops daily. There are a few nearly empty shops selling cleaning supplies, fuel, tobacco and children’s games and a few vegetable and bread carts.

The neighborhoods of rebel-held east Aleppo have suffered such massive destruction and exodus that when walking the streets at night, it feels a place struck by a deadly plague. The next second, one hears a sound in the sky getting closer at frightening speed. It's a regime helicopter, and it will certainly find a target. People begin to flee left and right toward the entrances of buildings and shops. A man screams, “Don’t group together! Scatter, scatter!” Another voice yells, “Oh, God. Oh, God.”

The aircraft drops its deadly payload, which explodes in the distance. People ask questions, including one woman who wonders, “Where did it drop? Who’s there? Don’t let them die. Oh, my Lord.” They quickly return to the food line to get their rations and disappear before the evening call to prayer.