Ten years of war have broken Syria into pieces

food has soared in Syria, leaving many of its people at risk of going hungry. Yet from his office in Qamishli, in the north-east, a trader describes how officials make it hard to bring wheat to market. His lorries must cross scores of checkpoints on their way to Damascus, the capital. Most demand fees. Kurdish forces charge by the tonne at the de facto border between the territory they control and that of President Bashar al-Assad.On the other side the Fourth Armoured Division, controlled by the president’s brother, takes $3,000 per load. The trader must also bribe officials in Damascus and support government causes, lest he be detained as a terrorist. Sometimes the crossings are closed because one side wants to squeeze the other. It is easier and more profitable to sell wheat abroad, he says. “The politicians are starving the people.”