Douma massacre (2015)

Last updated
2015 Douma massacre
Part of Syrian Civil War
Location Douma, Syria
Coordinates 33°34′20.15″N36°24′06.52″E / 33.5722639°N 36.4018111°E / 33.5722639; 36.4018111
Date16 August 2015 (2015-08-16)
Target Civilians [1] [2] [3]
Attack type
Airstrike
Weapons Missiles, Barrel bombs [4]
Deaths96+ [2]
Injured200+ [2] [3] [4]
Perpetrator Syrian Air Force [2] [3]

On August 16, 2015, the Syrian Air Force [5] launched strikes on the rebel-held city of Douma, northeast of Damascus, killing at least 96 people and injuring at least 200 others. [2] [6] [7] It was one of the deadliest attacks to have occurred during the Syrian Civil War. [3]

Contents

The bombing

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, four separate missiles were fired in the strikes, which struck the main market in the town during rush hour. [3] Initial airstrikes were reportedly followed shortly afterwards by surface-to-surface missiles which hit people who had rushed to the scene to help. [8]

I entered the market and the corpses were scattered everywhere, human remains thrown on the produce and vegetables, and under every box of tomatoes was a corpse or part of a corpse.

Bassam al-Hakeem, a Douma-based photographer [9]

The bodies of sixty of the massacre victims were buried in two mass graves on the night of August 16. [10]

Reactions

Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described the air strikes as "an official massacre that was carried out deliberately." [3] A Syrian military source told Reuters that the country's air force had carried out strikes in Douma and Harasta that targeted the headquarters of the rebel group Jaysh al-Islam. [1]

The Turkey-based Syrian political opposition group, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, said the attack aimed at inflicting as many civilian casualties as possible. [2]

Stephen O'Brien, the United Nations' most senior humanitarian official, said he was horrified by the attacks and reiterated that "attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop." [11] Jeffrey Feltman, the UN political chief, told the U.N. Security Council that Sunday's attack "would be yet one more war crime for which those responsible must be held accountable." [12] United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura called the attacks "unacceptable", to which Syria responded by accusing him of "stray[ing] from neutrality". [13]

The massacre was also condemned by Britain, France, Germany and Qatar. [14]

Official Statements

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International reactions to the Qana airstrike</span>

International reactions to the 2006 Qana airstrike, which saw the greatest loss of civilian life in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, twenty eight deaths with thirteen missing, largely involved the condemnation of Israel by many countries around the globe, bringing about a supposed 48 hours cessation of air operations by the Israeli Air Force. Bombings resumed only a few hours after the start of the cessation of air operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rif Dimashq offensive (August–October 2012)</span> Syrian army campaign

The Rif Dimashq offensive was a Syrian Army offensive in the Rif Dimashq Governorate during August–October 2012, as part of the Syrian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line incidents during the Syrian civil war</span> Incidents at the Israel–Syria ceasefire line since 2011

Several incidents have taken place on the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line during the Syrian Civil War, straining the relations between the countries. The incidents are considered a spillover of the Quneitra Governorate clashes since 2012 and later incidents between Syrian Army and the rebels, ongoing on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan and the Golan Neutral Zone and the Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Through the incidents, which began in late 2012, as of mid-2014, one Israeli civilian was killed and at least 4 soldiers wounded; on the Syrian-controlled side, it is estimated that at least ten soldiers were killed, as well as two unidentified militants, who were identified near Ein Zivan on Golan Heights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War crimes in the Yemeni civil war (2014–present)</span> Aspect of the war

War crimes and human rights violations, committed by all warring parties, have been widespread throughout the Yemeni civil war. This includes the two main groups involved in the ongoing conflict: forces loyal to the current Yemeni president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and Houthis and other forces supporting Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former Yemeni president. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks in Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition, backed by the United States and other nations, has also been accused of violating human rights and breaking international law, especially in regards to airstrikes that repeatedly hit civilian targets.

The Aleppo bombings were intense bombardments on both rebel and government-held areas in the city of Aleppo, Syria starting in late April 2016. Some rebel shelling also hit a Kurdish-held part of the city. The bombings decreased in intensity after 55 days when a temporary truce was established. However, the bombings continued through July.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rif Dimashq offensive (February–April 2018)</span> 2018 military offensive

The Rif Dimashq offensive , code-named Operation Damascus Steel, was a military offensive launched by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in February 2018 in a bid to capture the rebel-held eastern Ghouta suburb during the Syrian Civil War. East Ghouta, a pocket of towns and farms, had been under government siege since 2013 and had been a major rebel stronghold in the vicinity of the capital of Damascus. According to the United Nations, nearly 400,000 people live in East Ghouta.

The Tokhar airstrike occurred on 19 July 2016 in the village of Tokhar, during an offensive by United States-backed forces near the city of Manbij in Aleppo Governorate, and carried out by the United States Air Force. The operation was carried out as part of the American-led intervention in Syria. Reports of the death toll varied, ranging from 56 to 212 civilians being killed with "entire families" pulverized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Mosul airstrike</span> 2017 Mosul Slaughter

The 2017 Mosul airstrike, was an American bombing in the al-Aghawat al-Jadidah neighborhood in western Mosul on 17 March 2017 that killed between 200 and 300 civilians. The incident was the largest single death toll inflicted by a coalition air strike since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces.

During the Syrian Civil War, Russian and Syrian government forces have conducted a campaign that has focused on the destruction of hospitals and medical facilities within areas not under the control of the Syrian government. Russian and Syrian officials have repeatedly denied deliberately targeting medical facilities.

The Battle of Harasta, codenamed "They Were Wronged", was a military operation launched by Syrian rebels against positions of the Syrian Arab Army in Harasta, a northeastern suburb of Damascus, during the Syrian Civil War

The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to April 2018. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Eastern Ghouta</span> 2013–2018 Syrian siege east of Damascus

The siege of Eastern Ghouta was a siege that was laid by Syrian Government forces in April 2013, to the area in eastern Ghouta held by anti-government forces since November 2012, during the Syrian civil war. The cities and villages under siege were Douma, Mesraba, Arbin, Hamouria, Saqba, Modira, Eftreis, Jisrin, as well as suburbs of Damascus Beit Sawa, Harasta, Zamalka, Ein Tarma, Hizzah and Kafr Batna. By 2016, around 400,000 people were trapped in an area just over 100 square kilometres in size, thus with a population density around 4,000 inhabitants/km2.

The Atarib market massacre, Atarib market bombings or 2017 Atarib airstrike were three aerial bombardments on a marketplace in the Syrian rebel-held town of Atarib in the Aleppo Governorate of Syria perpetrated on 13 November 2017, during the Syrian Civil War. These airstrikes hit a commercial street with a market and a police station. The bombings killed 84 civilians, including six women and five children, and injured another 150 people. Atarib was part of the "Safe Zone" established in September 2017.

On 7 April 2018, a chemical warfare attack was launched by the forces of the government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian city of Douma. Medics and witnesses reported that it caused the deaths of between 40 and 50 people and injuries to possibly well over 100. The attack was attributed to the Syrian Army by rebel forces in Douma, and by the United States, British, and French governments. A two-year long investigation by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) concluded in January 2023 that the Syrian Air Force perpetrated the chemical attacks during its military campaign in Douma. On 14 April 2018, the United States, France and the United Kingdom carried out a series of military strikes against multiple government sites in Syria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">April 2018 missile strikes against Syria</span> Military strikes by US, UK, France against government sites in Syria

On 14 April 2018, beginning at 04:00 Syrian time (UTC+3), the United States, France, and the United Kingdom carried out a series of military strikes involving aircraft and ship-based missiles against multiple government sites in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. The strikes were a reprisal for the Douma chemical attack against civilians on 7 April, widely attributed to the Syrian government. The Syrian government called the airstrikes a violation of international law.

On 9 August 2018, Saudi Arabian expeditionary aircraft bombed a civilian school bus passing through a crowded market in Dahyan, Saada Governorate, Yemen, near the border with Saudi Arabia. At least 40 children were killed, all under 15 years old and most under age 10. Sources disagree on the exact number of deaths, but they estimate that the air strike killed about 51 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian war crimes</span> Violations of the laws of war committed by the Russian Federation

Russian war crimes are the violations of the international criminal law including war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide which the official armed and paramilitary forces of Russia are accused of committing since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. These accusations also extend to the aiding and abetting of crimes which have been committed by proto-statelets or puppet statelets which are armed and financed by Russia, including the Luhansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic. These war crimes have included murder, torture, terrorism, deportation or forced transfer, abduction, rape, looting, unlawful confinement, unlawful airstrikes or attacks against civilian objects, and wanton destruction.

The Hass refugee camp bombing was an aerial bombardment of a refugee camp in the Syrian opposition-held town of Hass in the Idlib Governorate of Syria, which has been deemed a war crime by Human Rights Watch. It was perpetrated on 16 August 2019, at 7:25 p.m. local time, during the Syrian civil war. The bombing killed 20 civilians, including a pregnant woman, and injured another 52 people.

The Maarrat al-Numan market bombing or Maarrat al-Numan market massacre was a war crime through an aerial bombardment of a marketplace and the surrounding houses in the Syrian opposition-held town of Ma'arrat al-Numan in the Idlib Governorate of Syria. It was perpetrated on 22 July 2019, from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. local time, during the Syrian Civil War. The bombing killed 43 civilians, including three girls, and injured another 109 people. At least two four-storey residential buildings and 25 shops were destroyed. A nearby school, located some 700 meters from the market, was damaged.

References

  1. 1 2 Hubbard, Ben (17 August 2015). "Government Airstrikes on Syrian Market Kill More Than 80". New York Times. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Death toll in Syria air strike nears 100: activists". Reuters. 17 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 AP (16 August 2015). "An "official massacre" of civilians alleged in Syria". CBS News. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Massacre as Syrian Barrel Bombs Kill at Least 82 - Middle East - News - Arutz Sheva". Arutz Sheva. 16 August 2015.
  5. "Syrian air force hits crowded market near Damascus, kills and injures hundreds". ARA News. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015.
  6. Cassandra Vinograd. "Syria's Civil War: Douma Airstrike Toll Nears 100". NBC News.
  7. "Syrian government air strikes on market kill at least 82 people". The Guardian. Associated Press. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  8. "Syrian regime attacks on Douma 'may amount to a war crime': UN". Al Bawaba. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  9. Martin Chulov (17 August 2015). "UN condemns Syria market attack as witnesses tell of 'corpses everywhere'". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  10. "Syrian army bombards Douma as air raid toll rises: monitor". Reuters. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  11. Chulov, Martin (17 August 2015). "UN condemns Syria market attack as witnesses tell of 'corpses everywhere'". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  12. "Syria's attack on Douma a war crime, UN political chief says - StarTribune.com". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  13. AFP (18 August 2015). "Syria blasts UN envoy for criticism of Douma airstrikes". Times of Israel. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  14. 1 2 "International Condemnation of Douma Massacre". Syrian National Coalition Of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces. 18 August 2015.
  15. "Press briefing notes on Libya, Syria and Yemen". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  16. "Market Bombing in Douma, Syria". State Department. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.