At Least 89 Killed as Syria Attacks Damascus Suburb

Missiles Pound Crowded Marketplace in Douma

The Syrian military has fired a number of missiles into the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma today, hitting a crowded marketplace and sparking an enormous, civilian-heavy number of casualties. At least 89 were killed and over 100 others wounded, and the figures are still believed to be rising.

12 missiles were described as having hit the area around the marketplace, leveling a number of buildings and trapping many civilians underneath. Locals complain that the area was totally civilian in nature, saying they don’t allow combatants of any stripe into the area.

Other locals reported that missiles landed all over Douma, and not just in the marketplace, though the casualties were overwhelmingly from hitting this area. The suburb has been held by rebel factions for years, though is largely surrounded by pro-government districts at this point.

This has left Douma, and suburbs like it, as designed whipping boys for the Syrian military, which never seems to commit the force needed to capture the area outright, but regularly does after the town in high-profile, high-casualty attacks like today’s.

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.