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fuagf

10/12/12 2:06 AM

#188531 RE: StephanieVanbryce #188431

Well done Erdogan .. "unfortunate" for sure .. thank you, a very interesting one .. hope
seeing these doesn't upset you tooo much .. it's just as it is in the tragedy of Syria ..


Photo 1 / 43 - Members of the Free Syrian Army are seen at a front line in al-Mid
area in Aleppo city in northern Syria, October 11, 2012. - REUTERS/Zain Karam


Photo 5 / 43 - A Free Syrian Army fighter fires his weapon during clashes with
forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad in Aleppo's al-Amereya district,
October 1, 2012. - REUTERS/Zain Karam

.. the devastation and suffering is friggin' soul destroying ..


Photo 9 / 43 - A view of a damaged room after being hit by a mortar shell in
Aleppo's district of Bustan Al-Basha September 26, 2012. - REUTERS/Zain Karam


Photo 18 / 43 - Free Syrian Army fighters drag a dead man out of the line of
sniper fire after he was shot at Seif a Dawla district in Syria's northwestern
city of Aleppo September 4, 2012. - REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal


Photo 21 / 43 - A Syrian Air Force fighter jet launches missiles at El Edaa district in
Syria's northwestern city of Aleppo September 1, 2012. - REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal


Photo 24 / 43 - A member of the Free Syrian Army looks up at a jet at Aleppo's
Al-Shaar district September 9, 2012. - REUTERS/Zain Karam


Photo 30 / 43 - A man reacts in front of houses destroyed during a recent
Syrian Air Force air strike in Azaz, some 47 km (29 miles) north of
Aleppo, August 15, 2012. - REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic


Photo 34 / 43 - A man and woman cry over the body of their son in
Aleppo August 12, 2012. The son was shot by a sniper in the
Salaheddine district of Aleppo where fighting has raged for
almost two weeks. - REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic


Photo 43 / 43 - A Free Syrian Army fighter reacts after his friend
was shot by Syrian Army soldiers during clashes in Salah al-Din
neighbourhood in central Aleppo August 4, 2012.
- REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic



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fuagf

10/14/12 8:45 PM

#188809 RE: StephanieVanbryce #188431

Human Rights Watch says Syria using cluster bombs

14 October 2012 Last updated at 14:00 GMT


Weeks of fighting have reduced buildings to rubble in Aleppo

Syria conflict

Turkish town scarred by conflict .. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19934101
No-man's land .. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19875393
Turkey-Syria tensions .. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19837502
Assad heartland .. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19699446

A leading human rights watchdog has accused the Syrian government of dropping cluster bombs on populated areas during its fight against rebels.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said online video reports purporting to show evidence of such weapons being used had recently multiplied.

Cluster bombs are banned by 77 countries under a convention because of the threat they pose to civilians.

Syria has not signed up to the convention.

There was no immediate comment from Syrian government officials on the HRW accusation.
.. http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/13/syria-new-evidence-military-dropped-cluster-bombs

Fierce fighting has continued between the Syrian army and rebel fighters in the north-western town of Maarat al-Nuaman for control of a highway linking the capital Damascus to the second city, Aleppo.

Rebels captured the strategic town on Tuesday, hindering the army's ability to reinforce troops in Aleppo.

Syrian government forces are still holding two nearby bases, Wadi Daif and Hamdiyeh.

'Disregard'

HRW said many of the latest cluster bomb attacks had taken place on towns around the highway which runs through Maarat al-Nuaman.

Cluster bomb canisters and sub-munitions shown in online videos showed "damage and wear patterns produced by being mounted on and dropped from an aircraft", according to the watchdog.

It identified them as Russian-made RBK-250 series cluster bomb canisters with AO-1SCh fragmentation bomblets.

"Syria's disregard for its civilian population is all too evident in its air campaign, which now apparently includes dropping these deadly cluster bombs into populated areas," said Steve Goose, HRW's arms director.

"Cluster bombs have been comprehensively banned by most nations, and Syria should immediately stop all use of these indiscriminate weapons that continue to kill and maim for years."

The cluster bomb convention .. http://www.clusterconvention.org/ .. was signed in 2008 to ban the stockpiling, use and transfer of virtually all existing cluster bombs, as well as the clearing up of countries littered with unexploded munitions.

States which are not parties to the convention include Syria and Russia, but also the US and Turkey.

The UN says more than 18,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria with 170,000 fleeing the country and 2.5 million in need of aid within the country.

How a cluster bomb works



1. The cluster bomb, in this case a CBU-87, is dropped from a plane and
can fly about nine miles before releasing its load of about 200 bomblets.

2. The canister starts to spin and opens at an altitude between
1,000m and 100m, spraying the bomblets across a wide area.

3. Each bomblet is the size of a drink can and contains hundreds of metal
pieces. When it explodes, it can cause deadly injuries up to 25m away.

More on This Story [ .. 34 more links .. ]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19942318