Douma is located in Eastern Ghouta and is part of the Damascus suburb province. Amnesty global investigated air strikes on the market in Hamouria on January 25 shortly after Friday prayers that it said killed more than 40 civilians, and on the market of Kafr Batna on February 5 at about 1 p.m. that it said killed 45 civilians. At least five children were among those killed.
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According to Rami Abdurrahman, director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rayhan’s story is similar to that of others in the country.
He said about 200 others were either wounded or still trapped under the rubble.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem defended the attacks in comments to an Egyptian television station published Thursday by Syria’s official news agency SANA.
Douma is the most heavily populated city in the region of Eastern Ghouta, which has been controlled by rebel forces for the past two years.
The sprawling suburb is home to the Jaysh al-Islam rebel group, also known as Islam Army, which has claimed responsibility in the past for firing rockets on Damascus, seat of Assad’s presidency.
The United Nations says that at least a quarter of a million people have been killed so far in the civil war, which began in 2011.
In an absolutely horrific drive to undermine Syrian rebels at any cost, the regime of President Assad has launched a concerted and systematic campaign of airstrikes against hospitals in opposition-controlled territory, Mike Giglio and Munzer al-Awad report for BuzzFeed.
The New York-based group said the Sunday attack on Douma showed the government’s “appalling disregard for civilians”.
“It is natural for the Syrian government to use the appropriate tools to defeat terrorism”, he said.
The U.S. State Department also spoke out against the attack.
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The city has been under strikes by Syrian regime forces for almost one week.
