More barrel bombs hit Syria's Aleppo

Aljazeera.com

- ‎18 hours ago‎

President Assad visited the Christian town of Maaloula, which his forces recaptured last week [Reuters]. Activists have claimed that Syrian warplanes have targeted the neighbourhood of al-Fardous in Aleppo city with barrel bombs, killing at least 40 ...

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Middle East

More barrel bombs hit Syria's Aleppo

Dozens killed in barrel-bomb strikes in rebel held Aleppo, activists say, as Assad visits Christian town to mark Easter. Last updated: 20 Apr 2014 23:38

President Assad visited the Christian town of Maaloula, which his forces recaptured last week [Reuters]

Activists have claimed that Syrian warplanes have targeted the neighbourhood of al-Fardous in Aleppo city with barrel bombs, killing at least 40 people. A video posted on Saturday to YouTube showed severe damage on buildings and the street, while firefighters extinguished the fire. The number of casualties remained unclear. At least 10 people were also killed in another barrel bomb attack in the suburb of Biideen, activists claimed. Videos posted online showed buildings engulfed in fire creating large plumes of smoke rising over the city. Barrel bombs are imprecise weapons, causing extensive damages and at least 1,000 people have been killed in such attacks since mid-December, activists say. Al Jazeera cannot independently verify the authenticity of the activist videos. Yarmouk access blocked Meanwhile, the United Nations has warned that residents of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus are in danger of starving to death. Chris Gunness, the spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees said that they were not authorised to distribute food and have been unable to provide assistance inside the camp for over a week. Former US Ambassador to Syria Richard Murphy, discusses the plight of Syrian refugees today. "[The UNWRA] have had 12 members of staff killed, trying to deliver aid. So it's a very very dangerous situation. UNRWA is ready. We have food in our warehouse in Damascus, we can take it in, [but] what we need is security, substantial access, secure access," said Gunness. State media reported on Sunday that President Bashar al-Assad visited the ancient Christian town of Maaloula, which his forces recaptured last week, to mark the Easter holiday. John Yazigi, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Syria, said that Christians "will not submit and yield" to fighters who attack "our people and holy places". Christians represent about five percent of Syria's population. The same day, French President Francois Hollande, told a local radio station that he has "several elements" suggesting the recent use of chemical weapons in Syria, but had no definitive proof. Syria's bloody war is entering its fourth year, with no end in sight and a rising death toll. At least 150,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011 as largely peaceful protests against Assad's rule.

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More barrel bombs hit Syria's Aleppo

 

If you don't understand what a barrel bomb is and does yet, it is a 50 gallon drum (originally a gas, oil, or some kind of food or other drum made of metal with a sealable lid. Then it is filled with pieces of metal like ball bearings pieces of metal nails and anything else that might make good shrapnel. It is a home made bomb so they are not expensive to make. Then explosives are added so anything within about a block of where this lands will won't be alive or just won't be there including houses or apartments. Then a strong enough helicopter is used to carry that much weight (likely 350 to 400 pounds). Then it is dropped upon buildings where families live. Imagine a 4 story apartment building. When it is dropped from up to 5000 feet when it hits it doesn't go off at first, instead it tears through 4 stories of apartments killing anything in it's way until it reaches the ground floor. Then it blows up destroying the building and everyone in it in multiple ways. This often causes the whole building to collapse on the people living there that weren't already killed by this thing going down through the building to the ground floor and blowing up. This is being done to civilians to kill them and to make them leave the country or die. Likely it will be found in court to be a war crime along with all the other thousands and thousands of atrocities committed by both sides so far in this horrific war.