Tit-for-tat attacks in and around metro Damascus have picked up in recent days, and soared dramatically today with the Syrian military launching airstrikes against the marketplace in the rebel-held town of Douma, just outside Damascus, killing at least 110 and wounding over 300 others.
This was the second time the marketplace was hit in the past week, as on Wednesday another airstrike there had killed 27 people. Today’s incident involved a series of strikes, and much of the toll was from those hit in subsequent strikes trying to evacuate the wounded from the first attack.
The Syrian government couched the attacks as retaliatory in nature, saying today’s strikes were aimed at the headquarters of the Jaish al-Islam, which had attacked government positions in Harasta on Saturday, and released a video bragging about their success.
It is so far unclear how many Jaish al-Islam fighters were actually hit in the salvo, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other groups on the ground suggested the vast majority of the casualties were civilian bystanders in the market, not combatants.
And it isn't possible, I suppose, that the "Syrian Observatory for Human Rights", a British government-funded, "moderate rebel"-supporting, information-war outfit biased against the Syrian government could actually be undependable or outright LYING – either about the number of those killed or that they were mostly innocent "civilians"?
Good point. Remember how Obama/Kerry claimed they were sure that Assad's forces had unleashed those chemical weapons two years ago?
Hopefully 109 of them are from ISIS.
I've been in support of Assad since the beginning of this march into the heart of darkness. Now, with the US-supported jihadists on the outskirts of Damascus, how can he still win? Obviously Washington does not care about the Christians still there, so how can the remaining ones be protected? If Assad does leave or fall, it will be a case of "be careful what you wish for" for the Obama Admin.
Kind of like what happened when Bush/Cheney "liberated" Iraq? You'd think they would have learned, eh?