25 children killed in elementary school bombing, Syrian activists say

CNN NEWS

Dozens of children are among the latest victims of the Syrian civil war after barrel bombs fell on an elementary school Wednesday, dissidents said.

Syrian forces dropped the bombs on an opposition-held area of Aleppo, the country’s largest city, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. The LCC said 25 children died.

Barrel bombs typically consist of barrels stuffed with explosives and objects such as nails to maximize carnage. A video posted by opposition activists showed what appeared to be a pool of blood and a side of a building reduced to rubble.

Another concrete wall featuring a drawing of a child was peppered with holes. A pile of chairs and debris was covered in red.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency made no mention of such an attack on its website Wednesday. Instead, it featured a story about President Bashar al-Assad and his wife hosting a reception for parents of sons who died while defending the “homeland.”

“The citizens’ willingness to offer the most precious issue they own to defend Syria and not allowing to sabotage it was one of the most important reasons behind steadfastness of the country in the face of most powerful powers,” al-Assad said, according to SANA.

The jihadist group al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility on Wednesday for twin car bombings the day before that killed at least 79 civilians in the al-Zahra neighborhood of Homs, dissidents said.

Another 21 fighters from the government-funded, Alawite-manned National Defense Force were killed, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The dual blasts Tuesday were among the deadliest attacks in an Alawite-dominated area. Al-Assad is a member of the Alawite religious sect, which is an offshoot of Shia Islam.

Al-Nusra detailed the attack in a statement Wednesday.

“The first car was detonated on time in order to kill the maximum number of Shabiha (al-Assad’s militiamen) in addition to the huge material damage,” the statement read.

As rescuers rushed to the scene, “the second car bomb detonated, blasting their hideouts to be the knockout punch that finished off whoever survived the first explosion since the two cars were parked in a manner aimed to cause the highest casualty number possible in their ranks so they can live the pain and suffering our people have been living.”

Al-Nusra ended its statement with an ominous threat: “We promise the Alawites and all of those who support them that there will be MORE to come.”

Condemning the attacks, Ribal Al-Assad, Director of the ODFS, said:

“I am horrified to learn of yet another devastating attack on innocent civilians, these are crimes against humanity.

The indiscriminate use of ‘barrel bombs’ on children is absolutely deplorable.

Furthermore the rhetoric from the Al-Nusra group is chilling, they are set on exterminating all those who do not share their perverted ideology and it is clear that minority groups and sects are firmly in their sites.

This is nothing short of genocide – the international community must wake up to this before it is too late.

More needs to be done to clamp down on extremism wherever we find it, these people must not be allowed to fulfil their heinous objective and those responsible for these crimes must be brought to justice.

These attacks are yet another reminder of the depth this conflict has descended to.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families at this time.”