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Almost 2,000 people (283 women and 567 children) have been killed by Syrian government air attacks
Almost 2,000 people have been killed by Syrian government air attacks in the northern city of Aleppo so far this year, an activist group says.
The dead included 283 women and 567 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The Syrian air force has used so-called "barrel bombs" dropped from aircraft to try to put down a rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad.
The use of shrapnel-packed barrel bombs in Aleppo and elsewhere has been condemned by international human rights groups. The bombs are dropped from helicopters and cannot be guided or controlled.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27633656
More on barrel bombs:
A barrel bomb is a type of improvised explosive device first used by the Syrian Air Force ... . They are typically made from a barrel that has been filled with high explosives, with possibly shrapnel and/or oil, and then dropped from a helicopter. Due to the large amount of explosives that can be packed into a barrel, their poor accuracy and indiscriminate use in civilian urban areas, the resulting detonations have been devastating.
Barrel bombs are cheaper and easier to produce than conventional weapons. The explosive payload can be as simple as fertilizer (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil). The bomb may contain metal shrapnel such as nuts and bolts, or even chemicals such as chlorine. The barrel itself can be any container of any size, such as an old water heater.
According to the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), barrel bomb attacks throughout Syria have killed more than 20,000 people since the conflict began in March 2011. It is estimated that, as of mid-March 2014, between 5,000 to 6,000 barrel bombs have been dropped during the war and their use has escalated. Aleppo has been the focal point of the Syrian government's use of barrel bombs.
According to Nadim Houry, the Middle East and North Africa deputy director for HRW, the reason for the Assad regime's continued use of barrel bombs is that it doesn't fear any strong international action. Syrian opposition representatives have repeatedly requested from international allies, and been denied, the transfer of anti-aircraft weapons to moderate rebel groups, in order to target the aircraft used to drop barrel bombs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_bomb
Barrel bombs are cheaper and easier to produce than conventional weapons. The explosive payload can be as simple as fertilizer (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil). The bomb may contain metal shrapnel such as nuts and bolts, or even chemicals such as chlorine. The barrel itself can be any container of any size, such as an old water heater.
According to the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), barrel bomb attacks throughout Syria have killed more than 20,000 people since the conflict began in March 2011. It is estimated that, as of mid-March 2014, between 5,000 to 6,000 barrel bombs have been dropped during the war and their use has escalated. Aleppo has been the focal point of the Syrian government's use of barrel bombs.
According to Nadim Houry, the Middle East and North Africa deputy director for HRW, the reason for the Assad regime's continued use of barrel bombs is that it doesn't fear any strong international action. Syrian opposition representatives have repeatedly requested from international allies, and been denied, the transfer of anti-aircraft weapons to moderate rebel groups, in order to target the aircraft used to drop barrel bombs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel_bomb
Hard to keep track of who the "terrorists" are.
