THE Syrian government has used internationally-banned cluster munitions in attacks on a besieged rebel-held suburb of Damascus, committing war crimes on “an epic scale”, Amnesty International has said.
Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held suburb north-east of the Syrian capital, has been under siege since 2013 and is already facing a humanitarian crisis, including the highest recorded malnutrition rate since the conflict began in 2011.
Some 400,000 civilians, half of them children, are believed to be trapped there.
Based on interviews with activists and verification of open source videos and photographs, Amnesty said at least 10 civilians were killed in November because of the government’s use of the banned Soviet-made cluster munitions.
The weapons, banned in more than 100 countries, gravely endanger civilians because of their indiscriminate nature.
“The Syrian government has shown callous disregard to the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people living in Eastern Ghouta,” said Amnesty’s Philip Luther.
“But this recent escalation in attacks – clearly targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure using internationally banned cluster munitions – is horrific.”
Amnesty said the cluster munitions first appeared in Syria after Russia began strikes against anti-government groups in September 2015.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel