Reports out of the al-Qaeda occupied half of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo say at least 15 civilians were killed and dozens of others wounded when a pair of barrel bombs dropped by the Syrian military hit a hospital district in one of the neighborhoods.
A report from the Independent Doctors Association says one of the barrel bombs actually hit their makeshift pediatric hospital, destroying a single floor, while others reported the entire hospital was “destroyed.” Children are believed to be among the slain, but the exact number is unclear.
The UNICEF statement claimed three hospitals were attacked in the two bombings, and also claimed medical personnel were among the slain. Their report similarly put the overall death toll at 15.
The use of barrel bombs has been roundly condemned internationally. The bombs, literally just oil barrels filled with explosives and shrapnel and pushed out of helicopters, have served as makeshift weapons for militaries running low on munitions. They have chiefly been used in Syria, but also a few times in Iraq.
As unguided bombs, the barrel bombs tend to go places they aren’t meant to, often careening far off course and hitting residential districts, when they were initially meant to inflict casualties on rebel troops.
What rubbish… these past “reports” proved to be hoaxes from when SAA targetted the AQ feld hospitals and triage centers treating their wounded. Terrorists don’t get to claim their war-fighting infrastructure to be “civilian”…..
And Anti-What wants my donation$ for garbage articles ??
Is there something terrible about barrel bombs specifically? Are they not crude weapons being used by forces that don’t have the money and technology to afford weapons that are much more efficient and are capable of slaughtering entire villages, as opposed to a few?
This stigma on barrel bombs is an indication of how Americans so easily buy into demonization propaganda.
Similar to how they buy into the Obama hate propaganda on drones. At the same time excusing their political party’s methods of bombs from 30,000 feet.
If Americans want to pretend to be antiwar, they have to stop blowing the whistle on themselves.
luv from Canada.
Here’s an idea for a headline: Sophisticated Modern Weapons (WMD’s) Kill 15 Civilians in Aleppo.
The only problem with that is, modern US made WMD’s don’t usually kill just 15 civilians, they kill entire villages full of civilians.
Maybe if some of the people at antiwar.com started picking up on the propaganda bullshit that has been pounded into their skulls, things would start to change a little. Change here on this site for a start at least.
Fully support your idea. If Antiwar cannot deal with propaganda, cannot point to the propaganda meands snd methods — but continues with a “neutral”. approach. — what exactly are we for? This “barrel” bomb nonsense is so stale, if it were a brand of dog food it would long since be thrown off shelves.
And those “independent” doctors are paid by whom? Isn’t their job to provide medical assistance and not speculate on the origin and the type of weapon? When are we going to stop falling for the same bait?