Barrel Bombs Kill More Than 3,000 Civilians in Syria, Report Says

The Syrian army has dropped barrel bombs on schools, markets, hospitals and mosques throughout the northern city of Aleppo, killing more than 3,000 civilians since 2012, according to a new report.

The Amnesty International report finds that barrel bombs—an oil or fuel tank packed with shards of metal—have been dropped with growing frequency in recent months, forcing schools and hospitals to operate out of underground bunkers. Local activists recorded more than 85 barrel bomb attacks in the last month alone, according to the report.

“Widespread atrocities, in particular the vicious and unrelenting aerial bombardment of civilian neighborhoods by government forces, have made life for civilians in Aleppo increasingly unbearable, said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa program.

The report was based on eyewitness accounts from 78 former residents and 29 professionals, which were verified with video evidence of the devastation.

“I saw children without heads, body parts everywhere,” said one local factory worker after an attack on al-Fardous neighborhood in 2014. “It was how I imagine hell to be.”