Activists in Rural Damascus said that 10 people were killed and dozens more injured in the Wadi Barada Valley area northwest of Damascus on Friday as a result of intense bombardment by the Assad regime forces using all types of heavy weapons, including internationally banned ones. The bombardment targeted villages in the area and vital civilian infrastructure.
Regime forces have carried out dozens of airstrikes and barrel bomb attacks on the area over the past two days, local activists said. The bombardment knocked Ayn Alfijah water pumping station out of service and hit the media office, medical centers, and civil defense centers in the rebel-held area.
The Wadi Barada Valley area is home to over 150,000 people who live in 14 villages, 11 of which are under the control of the FSA groups. The area has been under suffocating siege by regime forces and their allied Hezbollah militia for nearly five months, with food and medical supplies blocked from entering.
On November 9, regime forces blocked entry of a 48-truck UN aid convoy containing food and winter supplies. Regime forces stationed at Rimal checkpoint stopped the convoy claiming that residents of the area are not in need of humanitarian aid.
Activists said that the Ayn Alfija water pumping station came under heavy artillery and aerial bombardment on Thursday. The bombardment caused the water of the spring to be contaminated with diesel, oil, and gasoline used to operate the pumps as well as a large amount of chlorine used to process the water.
Activists also pointed out that the bombardment was concentrated on the villages of Alfija, Bseima, Kafr Alzait, and Ayn Miqrin, adding that all telephone landlines in the area were cut off as a result.
The assault on the Wadi Barada Valley came after rebel and FSA groups refused to leave the area, triggering an offensive by regime forces and their allied Hezbollah militia. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Office)
