By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria — On Sunday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced that new evidence emerged proving that the Syrian air force used cluster bombs near a main highway that runs through the town of Maaret Al Numan, where a major confrontation between Syrian and rebel forces recently took place.  Rescuers said that the attack killed at least 49 people, 23 of them were children.

Medics and rescuers said that two housing complexes and a mosque, where many woman and children had taken refuge, were among the wreckage.  Among those killed is a 9 month old baby.

Non-governmental groups say that up to 40 percent of the bomblets failed to explode and that 98 percent of the victims are civilians, including children who mistake them for toys.

Rebels responded to airstrikes by opening fire from heavy machine guns mounted on pickup trucks.  One rebel said “[i]t doesn’t matter if we die.  We must shoot down these planes.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the air force’s targets included a rebel camp near the town of Wadi Deif, where there is a major storage facility for heavy armor and fuel.

The Observatory accused the military of also dropping cluster bombs on the town of Saraqeb, north of Maaret Al-Numan. The military has denied using cluster bombs, insisting that it does not possess them.

Syrian activists have posted videos online showing cluster munition remnants in and around towns located in the Northern governorate of Idlib, Homs governorate, and Lattakia governorate.  The bomb canisters show damage and wear markings produced by being mounted and dropped from aircrafts.  Residents from the towns of Taftanaz and Tamanea also confirmed to HRW that helicopters dropped cluster bombs on or near their towns on October 9.

One resident from the Taftanaz told HRW that Syrian forces had shelled the town for the past six weeks, and that on October 9, a helicopter “dropped a [bomb] and as it fell it broke into half and released smaller [bomblets]…”  The strike hit a field of olive trees near the local airport, no casualties were reported.  The resident also reported seeing around 30 unexploded bomblets after inspecting the site.

In Tamanea, one resident reported that around noon on October 9, a low flying helicopter “released a [bomb]… that split open between two schools, Intermediary and Elementary, very close to each other…”  The resident also said that “The [bomblets] that exploded were the ones that hit the ground on the tip; we collected the ones that didn’t explode, their tip didn’t touch the ground.”

Meanwhile, the Observatory reported that at least 130 people were killed nationwide on October 15, including three children, when the army shelled the town of Abu Kamal on the Iraqi border.

For further information, please see:

Gulf News — Cluster Bombs hit Town as Syria Envoy due — 19 October 2012

Al Arabiya — Damascus Denies Using Cluster Bombs as U.S. Urges Syria Neighbors to Survey Airspace — 16 October 2012

Human Rights Watch — Syria: New Evidence Military Dropped Cluster Bombs — 14 October 2012

Kuwait Times — Cluster Bombs hit Syrian Town – 49 die as Jets Hammer Rebel-Held Town