Disturbing new footage shared on YouTube this week appears to show barrel bombs deployed in Syria.
Posted by revolutionary group Syrian Zero on Feb. 2, the graphic video purportedly depicts explosives being dropped on civilian neighborhoods in Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, between Jan. 25 and Jan. 31. The 10-minute video includes footage of several separate explosions and scenes of the aftermath.
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In the video, Syrian Zero accuses Syrian security forces of dropping barrel bombs on civilians while members of President Bashar Assad's regime participated in peace talks with opposition groups in Geneva. Delegates from both sides traveled to the Swiss city at the end of January in an effort to resolve the ongoing conflict. However, the sides failed to record significant progress on issues like a political transition and aid access to civilians in besieged cities.
Though the video is unconfirmed, the dates of the depicted explosions match with news reports of deadly barrel bombings on Daraya. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,at least 11 people were killed on Jan. 30 after Syrian army helicopters dropped explosive-packed barrels over Daraya, the Agence France-Presse reports.
The lethal bombings continued in Aleppo this week. According to CNN, at least 15 boys were killed in another barrel bomb attack on a mosque-turned-school in the northern city Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry responded to the news of the brutal campaign in a statement on Tuesday:
Each and every day that the barrel-bombing of Aleppo continues, the Asad regime reminds the world of its true colors. It is the latest barbaric act of a regime that has committed organized, wholesale torture, used chemical weapons, and is starving whole communities by blocking delivery of food to Syrian civilians in urgent need. [all sic]
(Warning: The following video may not be suitable for certain audiences.)
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