This incredible photograph from war-torn Syria shows a remarkable bus barricade built to protect civilians from government forces ' sniper fire . Three single-decker buses can be seen turned upright to form a wall in the middle of a street in Aleppo , as a lone child walks past the makeshift barrier . The city has been ravaged by the country 's civil war , with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad controlling much of the north of the settlement while the rebels occupy the south . Scroll down for videos . Bus barricade : Three single-decker buses can be seen turned upright to form a wall in the middle of a street in Aleppo , as a lone child walks past the makeshift barrier . Diplomacy remains stalled between the two sides , with rounds of peace talks between the Assad government and the opposition coming to nothing - including a proposed local ceasefire in Aleppo , the largest city in Syria . An estimated 31,000 people are said to have died in the city , however this number could be far higher , while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 215,518 people had been killed throughout Syria since the uprising began four years ago . Aleppo has only 90 minutes of electricity a day and conditions are of 'grave concern ' , the International Committee of the Red Cross said . Last week the Red Cross evacuated 17 disabled people across frontlines in Aleppo for treatment , as well as restoring a hospital generator . There are fresh hopes that fighting could soon cease , at least temporarily , after US Secretary of State John Kerry said the time had come to 'negotiate ' with Assad . Despite earlier insisting the the iron-fisted leader 's days were numbered , Kerry said : 'Well , we have to negotiate in the end . We 've always been willing to negotiate . ' Destruction : Syrian civilians search for survivors in the rubble of a building knocked down by a bomb fired by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad . Rescuers hack through the rubble as they try to find any survivors following a strike by Syrian government forces , who continue to pound Aleppo with bombs . Kerry acknowledged that it would need increased pressure on Assad , 'to make it clear to him that there is a determination by everybody to seek that political outcome and change his calculation about negotiating ' . 'That 's underway right now . And I am convinced that , with the efforts of our allies and others , there will be increased pressure on Assad . ' The conflict began as an anti-government uprising , with protesters taking to the streets on March 15 , 2011 , inspired by similar revolts in Egypt and Tunisia . But a fierce government crackdown on the demonstrations prompted a militarisation of the uprising and its descent into today 's brutal conflict . The UN refugee agency UNHCR says Syria is now 'the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era ' , with around four million people fleeing abroad . Fight back : The rebels ( pictured ) control swathes of the south of the city with the help of their own firepower , but pockets of opposition-held territory in the north could soon be captured by the Syrian army . Attack : The rebels ( pictured ) fire on the Syrian army as the battle for Aleppo continues , four years after the civil war started during the Arab Spring . An estimated 31,000 people are said to have died in Aleppo ( pictured ) , however this number could be far higher as tens of thousands more are missing . More than a million are taking refuge in neighbouring Lebanon , while others are sheltering in Jordan and Turkey - placing a huge strain on those countries . Inside Syria , more than seven million people have been displaced , and the United Nations says around 60 percent of the population now lives in poverty . The country 's infrastructure has been decimated , and experts say the economy has been set back by some 30 years . Despite international outrage at the death toll , and allegations that his regime used chemical weapons against its own people in August 2013 , Assad has clung to power and does not look likely to be deposed any time soon . His forces have consolidated their grip on the capital Damascus , where 18 more people were killed and more than 100 were injured in air raids yesterday .
Syrian civilians turn three buses upright to form a wall in the middle of a street to protect them from sniper fire . Single-decker buses used by the rebels to shelter people in Aleppo from attack by President Bashar al-Assad 's forces . The city has been ravaged by the country 's civil war , with the opposition and Syrian army battling for total control . An estimated 31,000 people have died in the city since 2011 , however this number could be far higher , observers say .