33 Killed, Scores Wounded in North Syria Barrel Bomb Strike

Barrel Bomb Hit Marketplace, Started Fires

Another report of major civilian casualties has emerged from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo today, where a barrel bomb attack wound up hitting a crowded marketplace, killing 33 and wounding scores of others.

As munitions have been in short supply, Syria’s military is increasingly relying on makeshift barrel bombs, essentially oil drums packed with explosives and shrapnel, rolled out of the back of helicopters, as their bomb of choice. Such a primitive design is extremely powerful, but also very inaccurate, and often careens far off course.

Today’s strike on the marketplace was doubly problematic, as not only were there a lot of civilians around, but some of the shops in the area were selling cans of diesel fuel for use in generators, and the bomb hit started a lot of fires.

It was the second barrel bomb hit in as many days in Aleppo. The previous strike was no more accurate, smashing into an elementary school and killing dozens of school-children.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.