Syrian Rebels: 190 Killed in Past 24 Hours

Major Clashes Reported in Damascus Suburb of Douma

Several different Syrian rebel factions have marked the past 24 hours in the country as the “deadliest” such span since the civil war began, with one unnamed group putting the toll at 190, with the vast majority of them civilians.

The most serious fighting was reported in Douma, a suburb of Damascus, where bodies lined the streets in what is being called a “massacre by Assad and his secret police.” The suburb alone reportedly saw 50 plus people slain and a large number of others wounded, including some not expected to survive.

Syria’s state media was oddly quiet about the overall death toll, only crowing about the “competent” nature of the crackdown and claiming to have killed “dozens” of terrorists, their catch-all term for all members of the rebel forces.

State media also reported a large amount of weapons seized from rebels, including what they described as “Israeli-made grenades.” Efforts to conflate the rebel forces with Israel and the US have been ongoing for weeks, and if successful could seriously harm their credibility as a domestic rebellion instead of a color-coded Western “revolution.”

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.