--- description: Rebel fighters upended these buses using ropes and pulleys. title: See How Syrians Are Protecting Themselves From Snipers image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48e8113cd81266e5/698785762dce0124c89de394/aleppo-busses-syria.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Syria](/tag/syria/) ## Syria Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is the Surprising Way Some Syrians Are Protecting Themselves From Snipers ## Video: The Families ISIS Fighters Leave Behind [Watch (HLS stream): The Families ISIS Fighters Leave Behind](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3wE4zvGL.m3u8) (5:29)  _Published 2015-02-26. How the rivalry between ISIS & Al-Nusra is tearing families apart_ by [Olivier Laurent](/author/olivier-laurent/) ## Olivier Laurent Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 27, 2015 3:20 AM CUT  A young boy walks past a makeshift barricade made of wreckages of buses to obstruct the view of regime snipers and to keep people safe in Aleppo, Syria on March 14, 2015. A young boy walks past a makeshift barricade made of wreckages of buses to obstruct the view of regime snipers and to keep people safe in Aleppo, Syria on March 14, 2015.Karam Al-Masri—AFP/Getty Images by [Olivier Laurent](/author/olivier-laurent/) ## Olivier Laurent Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 27, 2015 3:20 AM CUT **Correction appended, March 27, 2015** Some buses in Aleppo, Syria, have been reconverted to serve as protection from snipers loyal to the country’s embattled President Bashar Assad. This photo, taken in the rebel-controlled Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood on March 14, is by Karam Al-Masri, a young Syrian who became a photographer following the uprising in his country that has now spilled into four years of civil war. “I wasn’t a photographer before,” he tells TIME. “But I started to cover the events to show what is going on in my country.” Agence France-Presse distributes Al-Masri’s photographs. “The Ahrar al-Sham brigade \[a group that adheres to the conservative Salafi interpretation of Sunni Islam\] placed the buses in such a way,” he says. “They used ropes, pulleys and a number of men to get the buses in such position. They are \[blocking\] the view of regime snipers.” These upended buses are now a common sight in Aleppo, says Al-Masri, with several neighborhoods using the crude set-up to bring back a fragile sense of security to a city divided between forces loyal to the government and a slew of disparate insurgent groups. **Correction:** The original version of this story misstated the date Karam Al-Masri’s photograph was taken. 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