The Assad regime’s air force has intensified the bombing of the district of Daraya west of Damascus with the use of various types of weapons since yesterday. Activists in the district said that nearly 12 bombs filled with the incendiary napalm, 48 barrel bombs, and 14 rockets hit the rebel-held parts of the district in the last 24 hours.
Assad’s air force on Tuesday also bombed the only remaining field hospital in Daraya, causing massive material damage to the hospital building. The regime airstrikes also targeted rescue workers who were trying to put out a fire caused by the napalm bombs.
Russian and regime forces have dropped incendiary munitions on civilian populated areas thereby violating international law, including during the recent strikes around the cities of Idlib and Aleppo, a new report by a leading human rights group said Tuesday.
The Human Rights Watch report accuses the joint Assad-Russian air campaign of using incendiary munitions at least 18 times in the past nine weeks, most recently during an attack on Aug. 7.
“The Syrian government and Russia should immediately stop attacking civilian areas with incendiary weapons,” Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report. “These weapons inflict horrible injuries and excruciating pain, so all countries should condemn their use in civilian areas.”
Human Rights Watch has documented four different types of incendiary munitions used by the Assad regime and Russian forces in Syria, the majority of which have been dropped by aircraft. For its most recent report, the group compiled evidence of the incendiary attacks from photographs, videos and witness statements from residents and first responders.
The Assad regime forces have been using incendiary munitions in Syria since 2012. The use of internationally banned weapons has significantly increased, however, since late September 2015 when Russia began its air campaign to help prop up the Assad regime. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Al Jazeera)
