Date of incident: 11-09-2012
On Tuesday, 11-09-2012 at 10:15 in the morning Syrian army warplanes attacked kafarzeta city and dropped twelve barrels which were loaded with explosives, this killed twelve civilians (including two women and a toddler). The following are details of the massacre as narrated to us by the civilians and witnesses:
The distribution of explosive barrels according to the shelled area and the destruction which the bombardment caused:
The first barrel: the first barrel was dropped on the neighbourhood which is situated in the north of the village and caused no casualties. After a short while, the second barrel was dropped on the home of the martyr Hassan Karmo AlTafah which killed Abdullah (33 years), his wife Rabi’a Hashem Alkhatib and their neighbour Noura AlTafah (Um Hamed). In addition to this, a few women and children were injured.
The second and third barrel: whilst the civilians were trying to retrieve the bodies of the victims, a third barrel was dropped over a distance of 25 metres from the first site of explosion near the home of AlHaj Khaled AlSaleh. This led to his and his friends (AlHaj Abdullah AlDiab, 70 years) death, in addition to the death of Mohammad Adnan AlSaleh (33 years), Abdullah Yaser AlSaleh (19 years), the grandchild of AlHaj Khaled Saleh (Abu Radwan) and Mohammad Muhyi AlDeen Hassoun (30 years), who was holding the baby Batoul Mohammad AlTalfah (10 months) as he was trying to rescue her away from the second site of explosion. However, they were fated to become victims of the third explosion. Saleh AlHassoun (40 years) also lost his life while he was trying to reach the location of the bombing to rescue his family. A few injured people were salvaged from this explosion; some of them were in critical condition.
The fourth barrel: the fall of a fourth barrel caused another explosion on the old homes, situated on the south of the big mosque. This caused more destruction of the buildings but no casualties.
The fifth barrel: following this, a fifth barrel was dropped near the home of Bilal AlA’raj but there were no casualties.
The sixth barrel: the sixth barrel was then dropped on the home of Ma’rouf AlArfat in the north town which caused more destruction.
The seventh and the eighth barrel: the seventh and eighth barrels were dropped on the south of Kafarzeta Stadium and the other on AlKherbeh road but did not cause any damage.
Calm prevailed in the city for approximately one hour, during this time, the victim’s bodies were retrieved and a time was set during the second hour to pray for them. Shortly before the set time the military aircraft returned to drop more deadly explosive barrels. The ninth barrel was dropped on the home of Al AlSaed which was empty, therefore only the construction was seriously affected.
The tenth barrel was dropped on the old town south of the large mosque, this explosion did not cause much harm.
The eleventh barrel was then dropped on the home of Ahmad AlKhalaf which is situated near AlZakat roundabout in the southern town. The owner of this home had fled to turkey two days before the massacre, however, due to the severity of the explosion Al Haj Abdullah Shahood AlJdou’ lost his life as he was making his way to the prayer. Ali Al Qaddour also died whilst trying to escape the city by car with the women and children as he was worried about them, this caused the injury of one woman and a child
The twelfth and final barrel was dropped south of the city on AlZakat road, this explosion caused no serious harm.
Through our contact with the locals we managed to obtain the names of their children and relatives who were killed on this bloody day:
1. Abdullah Hassan AlTalfah (33 years)
2. Rabi’a Hashem AlKhatib ( wife of Abdullah Hassan AlTalfah )
3. Noura AlTalfah (Um Hamed)
4. Khaled Saleh AlSaleh
5. Abdullah Ali AlDiab (70 years)
6. Mohammad Adnan AlSaleh (33 years)
7. Abdullah Yaser AlSaleh (19 years)
8. Mohammad Mohyi AlDeen AlHassoun (30 years)
9. Toddler Batoul Mohammad AlTalfah (10 months)
10. Saleh Hussain AlHassoun (40 years)
11. Abdullah Shahood AlJdou’
12. Ali Mohammad AlQadour
Attachments:
Videos of Victims:
Martyr Ali Mohammad AlQadour/ 35 years/ Hama, Kafarzeta / Lost his life as a result of aircraft shelling
Some of the martyrs from the massacre who have been pulled out of rubble of the destructed homes
Child martyr Batoul Mohammad AlTalfah / 10 months old / Hama, Kafarzeta / killed due to aircraft shelling
The body of the martyr Abdullah Shahood AlJdou’ found, he lost his life as due to an exploded barrel
One of the bodies found under the rubble which was caused by one of the explosive barrels
Clips showing some of the massacre’s victims
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=664TAH_33bY
The martyrs being pulled out from under the rubble and destruction
Videos of the wounded:
Clip showing some of the wounded by the shelling that was committed by Assad’s jet planes on the city
Videos of the shelling and destruction:
Clip showing one of the fall of a barrels whilst the wounded are being rescued
Searching through the rubble for martyrs and wounded victims
Retrieving what is left of home furniture
Helplessness amongst people upon the return of the jet planes again
Jet planes dropping TNT barrels down on the city
One of the places a barrel was dropped
A home affected by a barrel full of explosives
The effects of the aircraft shelling on the city
Emigration of the civilians after the city was shelled
We, The Syrian Network of Human rights, seek to protect and defend human rights. We explicitly condemn this horrific massacre which is openly classified as a crime against Human Rights, along with the remaining massacres against the Syrian people – all of which have been committed by Assad forces. We hold the Syrian regime, the Commander in Chief of the Armed forces full and direct responsibility of the massacre. In addition to this, we also hold Russia, Iran and Hizbullah direct responsibility of the killing as they continue to provide the Syrian regime with weapons and money. We call for the United Nations and Security Council to take immediate action and speed to protect the Syrian people and to live up to their responsibilities. We urge them to accelerate their steps in referring all those involved in this massacre to the International Criminal Court.
Syrian Network for Human Rights – London
Website: www.syrianhr.org
Email: press@syrianhr.org
Skype: Syrianhr