Living in a 'nightmare': Airstrike interrupts Syrian activist's interview with ABC News

"Every day people die -- we're used to it," Nour, 22, said.

ByABC News
February 22, 2018, 5:59 PM

LONDON -- A Syrian media activist living in a besieged Damascus suburb said residents there feel like they are living in a nightmare -- describing nonstop bombardment that was clearly audible as he spoke with ABC News.

"Every day people die," Nour, 22, said shortly after a loud explosion was clearly audible in the background in the rebel-held suburb, Eastern Ghouta. He had barely reacted. "Every day people lost their sons or their family. Every day there are kids lost his mother and father."

PHOTO: Syrian rescuers and civilians run at the site of Syrian government bombardments in Hamouria, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on Feb. 22, 2018.
Syrian rescuers and civilians run at the site of Syrian government bombardments in Hamouria, in the besieged Eastern Ghouta region on the outskirts of the capital Damascus on Feb. 22, 2018.

Pro-Syrian government forces have pounded Eastern Ghouta for days, killing at least 335 civilians, including 79 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. Nour spoke to ABC News' Ian Pannell via Skype on Tuesday and requested that his last name not be used out of concern for his and his family's safety.

PHOTO: Syrians gather between destroyed buildings after an attack of airstrikes and shelling by Syrian government forces, in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria on Feb. 22, 2018.
Syrians gather between destroyed buildings after an attack of airstrikes and shelling by Syrian government forces, in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria on Feb. 22, 2018. A new wave of Syrian government bombardment in the opposition-held eastern suburbs of the capital left thirteen people dead.

"We're used to it," he said. "Every day people die -- we're used to it. But people think we are a number, but actually we are human and people, and no one feel what we are suffering."

PHOTO: Civil defense help a man from a shelter in the besieged town of Douma in eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria, on Feb. 22, 2018.
Civil defense help a man from a shelter in the besieged town of Douma in eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria, on Feb. 22, 2018.

Nour has been living under siege for five years and said he had never seen anything like the current barrage -- saying residents felt it was like a "nightmare."

PHOTO: A red crescent volunteer runs after a bombing, in rebel-held Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Syria, Feb. 22, 2018. More than 25 people were killed in Douma after several airstrikes and shelling by forces allegedly loyal to the Syrian Government.
A red crescent volunteer runs after a bombing in rebel-held Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Syria, Feb. 22, 2018. More than 25 people were killed in Douma after several airstrikes and shelling by forces allegedly loyal to the Syrian Government.

"They want to wake up but they can't because that's our reality and that's what we and suffering from the warplanes every single minute of the day."

PHOTO: Smoke rises from the rebel held besieged town of Hamouriyeh, eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria, Feb. 21, 2018.
Smoke rises from the rebel held besieged town of Hamouriyeh, eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria, Feb. 21, 2018.

He described an entire family killed the day before. He said people had become "used to" the daily death and carnage.

PHOTO: A rescue worker holds an injured girl in the rebel held besieged town of Hamouriyeh, eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria, Feb. 21, 2018.
A rescue worker holds an injured girl in the rebel held besieged town of Hamouriyeh, eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria, Feb. 21, 2018.

To U.S. President Donald Trump and the rest of the world, he said his message was: "We are not just [a] number -- we are human, we are people who want just to live."

PHOTO: A Syrian man stands next to rubble in a heavily-damaged street after a reported regime air strike in the rebel-held enclave of Hamouria in the Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, Feb. 21, 2018.
A Syrian man stands next to rubble in a heavily-damaged street after a reported regime air strike in the rebel-held enclave of Hamouria in the Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, Feb. 21, 2018.