Syria girls escape from nightmare of war with Snow White fable

News24xx.com - To escape the nightmare of life in their besieged hometown near Syria's capital, 13 young girls sought refuge in a fairytale performance of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

The all-girl cast spent months memorising lines from the classic Brothers Grimm fable before performing in front of a packed audience this week in the elementary school in Douma.

"It was really hard, but I memorised all my lines in English," said proud 10-year-old Afnan, who played the story's lead antagonist, the Queen.

"When I act, I forget the war that we're living through in Douma and I feel happy and hopeful," she said.

Afnan's hometown is the de facto capital of the Eastern Ghouta region, the last remaining rebel enclave near Damascus and besieged by government troops since 2012.

Until this month, Eastern Ghouta had been regularly targeted by air strikes and artillery as part of a government offensive chipping away at rebel territory.

The bombardment would often wound or kill children as they headed to street markets, played outside, or walked to school.

But the skies have been quiet since a landmark deal earlier this month to create four "de-escalation zones" in Syria, where more than 320,000 people have been killed since conflict broke out in 2011.