LONDON — The Syrian Olympic team doesn't talk about the civil war back home.
"We never talk about this," says Bayan Jumah, a swimmer from Aleppo, a city wrecked with violence for two weeks during one of the most important battles of a 17-month uprising against the government of Bashar Assad.
Assad is urging his armed forces to step up the fight against rebels in Aleppo. On Wednesday, the U.N. reported a significant escalation in the war, with the military using warplanes to fire on opposition fighters.
Jumah says she is in touch with her family and worries about them just "a little bit, but not so much," because her family lives in the downtown area of Aleppo, and fighting has been heavy in the outskirts.
Jumah competed in 100-meter freestyle at the London Games on Wednesday.