PHOTO: A regime-held neighborhood in west Aleppo city — how extensive was rebel shelling of the area?
As Russia and regime attacks killed more than 300 civilians in east Aleppo in late April, both Moscow and Damascus tried to shift attention with the claim that it was rebels who were assaulting the innocent in the western part of the city. They declared that it was the hundreds of victims in regime-held areas who should be noted.
It was difficult to establish whether the assertions were truth or propaganda. The evidence in Syrian State media was sketchy at best, with images of claimed casualties and damage to building but no firm basis for the numbers. “Real” attacks had to be separated from misleading declarations — on one occasion, the Assad regime may even have carried out a “false flag” car bombing of a hospital to blame rebels.
See Syria Special: How Regime May Have Staged “Rebel Attack” on Aleppo Hospital…and Fooled World’s Media
Almost no journalists were able to visit the area to check the claims. Declan Walsh of The New York Times was allowed into Aleppo for a day, but only to carry out a few well-monitored interviews.
Now one of the best sources for verification of casualties and attacks, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, has published the results of an investigation covering the period from April 20 to April 29.
The SNHR finds that 65 civilians, including 21 children and 11 women, were killed by shelling from “armed opposition factions”. Eight “vital facilities” were struck: four schools, three mosques, and a church. It notes the following incidents:
*April 25: “Several local made missiles” struck the al-Jamilia neighborhood — two children were killed and two injured
*April 27: Several missiles, fired from opposition-held Bustan al-Qasr, hit a building near a bakery in the al-Azamia district — four civilians were killed, including a child
*April 28: Several mortars hit residential buildings in the al-Maidan neighborhood, killing 10 people, including six children and a woman
While assessing that the bombardment was “accidental”, not intending to harm civilians, the report concludes that the rebels have violated a UN Security Council resolution and International Humanitarian Law. It calls on the Syrian opposition to guarantee protection on civilians in all areas, to investigate the incidents, and to take action against those responsible. Rebels should distinguish between military and civilian targets.
