More Than Five Million Syrians at Risk from Explosive Weapons

The lives of more than five million Syrians, including two million children, are at risk from explosive weapons used in the conflict, some of which fail to detonate and will pose a deadly threat for years to come, Reuters reports.

A report by aid group Handicap International claims weapons have been used by all parties in the conflict and maps the thousands of incidents involving small arms and light weapons, chemical weapons and explosive weapons – such as land mines, cluster munitions and mortars – across the country between December 2012 and March 2015.

“Syria will inherit the deadly legacy of explosive weapons for years,” said Anne Garella, regional coordinator of Handicap International, which provides aid to disabled people in conflict and disaster zones.

The NGO noted that the weapons employed by all parties in the conflict were having dreadful consequences for civilians.

“The wide use of explosive weapons combined with the lack of appropriate surgical care in Syria has a devastating impact on people’s lives.

“Because of their blast or fragmentation effects, explosive weapons kill or generate complex injuries,” Garella said.

The study found that three-quarters of incidents involving the weapons were in densely populated areas, suggesting that “the belligerents have no intention of effectively distinguishing between civilians and combatants, a violation of international humanitarian law.”

The heavily populated western provinces of Aleppo, Daraa, Homs, Idlib and rural Damascus were the worst affected areas, the study found.

The Syrian government has been repeatedly condemned for its indiscriminate use of barrel bombs – containers packed with explosives and projectiles that are dropped from helicopters on civilian areas.

Armed opposition groups have also been accused of using imprecise weapons such as improvised rockets fitted with gas canisters called “hell cannons” in attacks that have repeatedly targeted civilians and civilian objects.

The group called on the international community to enforce U.N. Security Council Resolution 2139 in Syria. The Resolution calls for increased access for the population to humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians; it also demands unfettered humanitarian access in Syria.

Activists Claim at Least 28 Killed in Regime Barrel Bomb Attack on Aleppo

Al least 28 people were killed on Tuesday in a regime barrel bomb attack on a bus stand in an opposition-help part of the northern city of Aleppo, AP reports.

The attack on the Jisr al-Haj neighborhood killed at least 28 people and wounded nearly 30, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, another monitoring group, reported that 50 people were allegedly killed in the attack.

Exact death tolls are difficult to verify and variations in casualty counts are not uncommon.

“The Aleppo Media Center posted an online video that purportedly showed rescue workers extinguishing fire-engulfed buses as civilians scrambled to untangle bits of cars and motorcycles from the dead,” AP writes.

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is at the heart of clashes between government forces and insurgents that include Jabhat al-Nusra, Islamist brigades and Western-backed rebels.

Barrel bombs have reportedly killed over 3,000 civilians in Aleppo province since the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution early last year condemning their use in populated areas, threatening “further steps” in the case of non-compliance, a report by Amnesty International found earlier this month.

Meanwhile, two explosive-rigged motorcycles blew up in the central city of Homs, killing at least four people and wounding 28, Syrian state media said.

“The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted neighborhoods [that are] home to members of President Bashar Assad’s minority Alawite sect,” AP reports.

Photo Courtesy of AP Images

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