REUTERS/Hosam Katan
The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in the midst of an unprecedented bombing campaign in Syria’s largest city of Aleppo.
For the last four months, the Syrian Air Force jets have been dropping bombs — including steel barrels packed with explosives and shrapnel — on rebel-held areas of the country’s former commercial and industrial hub.
This injured girl, in shock and covered with blood after a barrel bombing, exemplifies the reality of Assad’s sinister plan to retake one of the oldest cities in the world with indiscriminate force.
Here’s what the barrel bombings — and double barrel bombings — have looked like in various Syrian cities:
The result, seen across Syria, is sheer destruction:
REUTERS/Hamid Khatib
A general view shows a building damaged by what activists said were barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, in the al-Myassar neighbourhood of Aleppo April 3, 2014.
There are numerous horrifying photos of the bombing campaign’s toll on the civilian population. The little girl, along with the distraught man in the background, depict the brutality of the crude devices while sparing the gore.
REUTERS/Hosam Katan
A woman comforts an injured girl at a clinic, who was injured by what activists said were barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo’s al-Sakhour district April 2, 2014.
More than 7 million Syrians have fled during three years of war — one million to neighboring Lebanon alone — but many of the country’s 23 million residents have no choice but to attempt a live in their battered country.
REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah
Men drive a car near a site hit by what activists said was an air strike by government forces in Aleppo’s al-Ansari al-Sharqi neighbourhood April 2, 2014.
And as Assad — who is preparing for re-election — continues to pummel the residents of his country with Russian weapons and Iranian direction, the leaders of the free world do nothing except talk.
