86 Killed as Syria Shells Rebel Town Near Damascus

Second Straight Bloody Weekend in Douma

The rebel-held town of Douma, near the Syrian capital of Damascus, has faced some of the biggest death tolls of the civil war in recent weeks, with 110 killed and 300 wounded last weekend in attacks centering on the town’s marketplace.

This weekend saw more of the same, with heavy shelling and missile fired on both Saturday and Sunday leaving at least 86 confirmed killed and an untold number of others wounded. The toll in the new attacks could rise, as locals say they believe there are more bodies in the rubble.

Saturday saw missile and artillery strikes, and later airstrikes in the town, with at least 52 killed. Another round of shellings on Sunday killed another 34 people. Scores more were wounded on both days, some gravely, and locals say they are not expected to survive.

Douma is one of several towns and suburbs around Damascus which have been under rebel control for quite some time, and while Syria never makes serious efforts to militarily retake it, they have often used it as a whipping boy, pounding it during times when the war elsewhere is turning sour, to prove that they still have some momentum.

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.