Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS)

Documentation of Selqeen city massacre.. An explosive barrel kills 32 civilians in momentsþ

Documentation of Selqeen city massacre.. An explosive barrel kills 32 civilians in moments

Date of incident: 01-10-2012

Documented by: the Syrian network for human rights

On Monday, 01/10/2012, a helicopter which belongs to the Syrian army dropped an expolisve barrel on residential buildings in an abrupt and unexpected manner; this caused the complete destruction of two buildings and the death of 32 civilians, including 7 women and 7 children. 7 of these bodies were completely burnt, and the number of injuries exceeded 120. An ambulance entered syria from turkey through Bab Al Hawa and transported the injured people.

The Syrian network for human rights managed to obtain 6 accounts of the massacre from witnesses, survivors and activists accounts, all of whom described the massacre as an atroucious crime of the Syrian regime.

 

The citizens and victims’ relatives accounts of the massacre, including video attachments:

 

1-      Mother of one of the victims: the shelling resulted in the death of many civilians including my son, Mo’ayad. We were sitting in our home when we heard the sound of helicopter which dropped the barrel. There were no members of the FSA in the city, also, there are more than 10 people missing and our house is completely destroyed.

http://youtu.be/tpm0EXTpR8A

2-      A citizen from the city: we were very surprised at the sound of explosion at approx 7.30. The civilians were scared and were asking about the reason for the explosion, I could see a lot of smoke and we managed to rescue three injured people, however, the rest were dead.

http://youtu.be/xXOKkobwzW0

3-      Safi: a witness who was in the city: suddenly, a black barrel was dropped from an airplane in the same area I was in. As a result of this barrel, my mother in law, her brother and his wife and 7 children were killed, even though there were no FSA members in the city.

http://youtu.be/1fVXCAbx6wg

4-      One of the children in the city: the airplane shelled us from the sky, therefore the glass broke in our house and I was injured as a result, most of the city houses were destroyed as a result of the explosion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9TuReTpkbUA

5-      Ziad Al Said: A previous member of the Syrian Human rights organisation: the Syrian army tried to break in to Selqeen, however, the free Syrian army tried to resist the attack on the outskirts of the city, the Syrian army then used all kinds of heavy weapons, mortars and Shilka. After many clashes the Syrian army and the FSA, the Syrian army broke into the city until they reached the heart of the city, even though there were no FSA members inside the city. During the massacre, however, the Syrian army using airplanes, MIG airplanes, helicopters and dropped TNT barrels

http://youtu.be/zjgOh-1lMlM

6-      Hammam Na’eem: one of the leaders on the field in Selqeen: there were Free Syrian army members only in the outskirts of the city, and we tried to resist the attack of the Syrian army to prevent them from entering, therefore, the Syrian army decided to drop barrels on the city, even though we were not inside the city. In addition to this, we are mainly situated in non populated areas.

http://youtu.be/UV7wOBJFVkE

7-      Mohammad Binnishi: one of the paramedics: following the siege on the city by the Syrian army and the prevention of the entry of food, baby milk and medicine, the Syrian army broke into the city even though the free Syrian army members were only present on the outskirts of the city. the free Syrian army tried to resist the Syrian army’s attack to prevent them from entering the city, and the Syrian army responded by shelling Selqeen by tanks, and airplanes, they also dropped TNT barrels which fell on residential buildings and resulted in a massacre, with 32 victims including 7 women and 7 children.

 

http://youtu.be/-RwCGd4mRlE

 

Through our contact with witnesses and activists, we managed to document only 23 of those victims, there were 9 bodies which were completely burnt and we were not able to identify them:

1-      Mashaa’el Khalil

2-      Fatima Khalil

3-      Abdullah Khalil

4-      Ghinwa Istanbouli

5-      A women who was not identified as her body was completely burnt

6-      Hassan Saklawi

7-      Mohammad AlKouk

8-      Mo’ayad Qala’

9-      Najib Hasana

10-   Mohammad Sino

11-   Mustafa Sino

12-   Mohammad Khalil

13-   Khadr Khalil

14-   Mohammad Hassan Ramadan

15-   Mohammad Betrush

16-   Ghassan Droubi

17-   Ayham AlMuhsen

18-   Mohammad Saleh A’rtoumah

19-   Ghassan Droubi

20-   Mohammad A’ta A’wad

21-   Ahmad Ibrahim Jammal

22-   Hassan Dghem

23-   AbdulLatif Mohammado

24-   A body which was not identified

25-   A body which was not identified

26-   A body which was not identified

27-   A body which was not identified

28-   A body which was not identified

29-   A body which was not identified

30-   A body which was not identified

31-   A body which was not identified

32-   A body which was not identified

 

Attachments:

 

Videos documenting victims and injuries:

http://youtu.be/uwrSVF6aFXQ

http://youtu.be/JKfg5E_8IZU

http://youtu.be/ZZp04z91jqk

http://youtu.be/pdYX4Z5yf2w

http://youtu.be/pVQ6lNsQmQM

http://youtu.be/_91DbD0Fihc

 http://youtu.be/XxqUykuLzaE

http://youtu.be/QT76DEdOanE

 

Pictures of victims bodies:

 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497386146938212

Children siblings: Mashaa’el, Fatima and Abdullah from Khalil Family, who were victims of the massacre

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497380166938810

 

Shelling and destruction:

 

Helicopters shelling the city:

http://youtu.be/aNQsqThs0y8

http://youtu.be/l8Hx7NfJefs

http://youtu.be/rL-NgVqA6Qs

http://youtu.be/v_K5VS1Djxw

 

The moment the barrel was dropped:

http://youtu.be/iyQlQ319law

 http://youtu.be/Y_1GSe-ltlA

Destruction:

http://youtu.be/5w-0FRn53Gc

 

for more information and clarifications, please contact us through email or official Skype account, you can also contact an activist on the ground in Selqeen City on the following Skype account:

syr4all.2012

 

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.