Ismail al-Abdullah, leader of one of the civil defense teams operating in Aleppo, said that regime forces continue to target civilians in the city with barrel bombs around the clock,” during an interview with Al Jazeera TV. “The bombing campaign Assad has waged on Aleppo have not spared residential areas, schools, mosques and markets, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries, including children, women and the elderly,” Abdullah added.
Al-Abdullah said that the barrel bombing of the city has caused widespread horror and panic among the civilian population. But he added that the residents of Aleppo, and all Syrians in general, will not be demoralized by these attacks, no matter how savage they are.
He pointed out that residents of the city refuse to live in underground shelters, but are living a normal life in psychological confrontation with the Assad regime.
Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said earlier that the Assad regime is indiscriminately striking civilians and civilian objects in Aleppo with unguided, high-explosive barrel bombs. The attacks continue despite a United Nations Security Council Resolution unanimously passed on February 22, 2014, demanding that all parties in Syria cease the indiscriminate use of barrel bombs and other weapons in populated areas.
“For a year, the Security Council has done nothing to stop Bashar al-Assad’s murderous air bombing campaign on rebel-held areas, which has terrorized, killed, and displaced civilians,” said Houry. “Amid talk of a possible temporary cessation of strikes on Aleppo, the question is whether Russia and China will finally allow the UN Security Council to impose sanctions to stop barrel bombs.”
The rights group urged the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Syria’s government and any group implicated in widespread human rights abuses. “We believe an arms embargo would deal adequately with the issue of barrel bombs,” Bolopion said, because it would target shipments of spare parts, fuel for aircraft and other key items.
The regime’s attacks have led to the death and injury of thousands of civilians in rebel held territory. While deaths from aerial attacks are not exclusively from barrel bombs, residents from rebel held territory in Dara’a and Aleppo told Human Rights Watch that barrel bombs account for a majority of air strikes. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Jazeera)
