Washington, DC – Compelling evidence has emerged that an airstrike using cluster bombs on the town of Deir Al-Assafeer near Damascus killed at least 11 children and wounded others Sunday, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The Syrian government should immediately cease its use of this highly dangerous weapon, which has been banned by most nations. “This attack shows how cluster munitions kill without discriminating between civilians and military personnel,” said Mary Wareham, arms division advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Due to the devastating harm caused to civilians, cluster bombs should not be used by anyone, anywhere, at any time.” According to video footage and testimony from local residents, at least 11 children were killed in the strike on Saraya neighborhood in the eastern part of Deir Al-Assafeer. Two residents told Human Rights Watch that the cluster bomb strike occurred as a group of at least 20 local children were gathered in a field where they usually play. One witness said: “Around 2:50 p.m. a MIG 23 appeared in the sky. I was 100 meters away from the playground. I looked outside and saw the MIG hovering around and then release six cluster bombs as it flew away. I saw two breaking in half. Then I heard a series of small explosions. It sounded like fireworks but of course louder. Then I heard people screaming and running toward the playground. I followed them with the rest of the men who were with me. When I reached the playground I saw five children dead and many other wounded. The severely injured children were taken to nearby hospitals and the ones with lighter wounds to a field hospital.” A Human Rights Watch analysis of videos posted online by Syrian activists of the scene of the attack indicates that at least three RBK-250/275 AO-1SCh cluster bombs were used in the strike. Each RBK-250/275 AO-1SCh cluster bomb contains 150 AO-1SCh antipersonnel fragmentation bomblets and creates a destructive footprint of 4,800 square meters (52,000 square feet), the equivalent of a United States football field, according to a standard international air-launched reference guide. Markings on the cluster bomb remnants indicate they were manufactured in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. There is no information available on how or when Syria acquired them. Video footage posted by Syrian activists of the immediate aftermath of the attack shows children and adults lying severely wounded on the ground, with injuries consistent with those caused by cluster bombs. Cluster bomb remnants and local testimony indicate that one bomb landed in the field where the witnesses said the children were playing, a second bomb landed on a house less than 50 meters away, and the third bomb landed in farmland approximately 150 meters from the field. – SG
