Syrian barrel bomb strikes hit six different districts in the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 37 people, including at least 16 children. Large numbers of people were also wounded.
As Syria’s civil war has dragged on, Syria’s military is relying more and more on barrel bombs to hit entrenched rebel targets. The makeshift munitions are just oil barrels full of explosives rolled out of the back of a helicopter.
The bombs are powerful, but extremely inaccurate, and tend to careen off target quite often, which in densely populated territory is a recipe for high civilian casualties.
This is the second major round of barrel bomb strikes in metro Aleppo this month, with a previous round targeted at a rebel headquarters likewise missing, hitting a nearby market and killing around 50 people.
