Barrel bombs have caused great civilian casualty in Syria, the Human Rights Watch urges the United Nations and other Western powers to impose sanctions on the Syrian government to stop such attacks.
On Tuesday, the Human Rights Watch published a report urging the Syrian government to stop the use of barrel explosives. The HRW accuses President Bashar al-Assad of allowing the dropping of barrel bombs on civilian populations in rebel held areas in Syria.
Barrel bombs are cheaply made. They are containers filled with multiple explosives and metal scraps. These bombs are dropped out of helicopters from high altitudes so as to avoid gunfire from below. The Islamic State rebel forces are not in possession of helicopters, reports the HRW, and thus are unable to execute such attacks. Though President Assad denies the accusations, only the Syrian military is capable of such attacks. The United Nations passed the resolution 2139 on February 22, 2014 which prohibited the use of barrel bombs by any group in Syria.
The bombs are designed to be as destructive as possible and are indiscriminate towards their targets. Thus, civilians living within rebel territories often suffer from these attacks. Media images and video record solid evidence of the alleged barrel bomb attacks on civilian populations. The Violation Documentation Center has reported that since the prohibition of the barrel bombs, more than 609 civilians were killed in airstrikes, most of which used barrel bombs.
Nadim Houry the HRW director for the Middle East and North Africa stated, “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. 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.”
“Other countries, including Western and emerging powers, should increase the pressure on Russia and China to stop blocking international action to curb the Syrian government’s deadly crimes,” said Houry.
The airstrikes have targeted important civilian areas, which include schools, residential areas, and hospitals. Some reports of airstrikes indicate that they sometimes occurred in areas absent of rebel forces.
