25 Children Killed in Aleppo Elementary School Bombing
Activists from the Local Coordination Committees of Syria say 25 children were killed Wednesday after barrel bombs fell on an elementary school in an opposition-held neighborhood of Aleppo.
“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,” CNN reports. “Another concrete wall featuring a drawing of a child was peppered with holes. A pile of chairs and debris was covered in red.”
Meanwhile, in another blow to Syria’s civilian population, “Jabhat al-Nusra claimed responsibility Wednesday for twin car bombings the day before that killed at least 79 civilians in the al-Zahra neighborhood of Homs.
“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. Assad is a member of the Alawite religious sect, which is an offshoot of Shia Islam.”
U.S. Officials Say Syria Using Remaining Chemical Cache as ‘Leverage’
The Washington Post reports that “the months-long effort to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons program has ground to a halt because Syria is holding on to 27 tons of sarin precursor chemicals as leverage in a dispute with the international community over the future of facilities used to store the deadly agents, according to U.S. officials.
“Having turned over all but an estimated 8 percent of its chemical arsenal to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Damascus missed a deadline Sunday to relinquish the remnants of its arsenal, which are stored in 16 containers in Damascus, U.S. officials said.”
In one sticking point, “The OPCW is insisting that a network of tunnels and buildings that were used to store the weapons must be destroyed. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has argued that the facilities should be repurposed.”
Jordan Opens a Massive Refugee Camp for Syrians
The AP reports that Jordan, whose massive Zaatari refugee camp has become its fourth-largest city, has opened a new camp for the thousands of Syrians who continue to spill across its shared border. Azraq camp has a capacity of 130,000 and comes with cabin-like accommodations and a supermarket.
Its inauguration “comes in the fourth year of the deadly conflict, which has caused about 40 percent of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million to flee their homes. The U.N. estimates there are nearly 2.7 million Syrian refugees, mostly in neighboring countries, and another 6.5 million who have been displaced in their homeland.
“The $63.5 million Azraq camp is built to hold 130,000 people, he said. Once full — a process expected to take months — it will outstrip the Zaatari camp, currently Jordan’s largest camp. Zaatari is actually Jordan’s fourth-largest city and the world’s second-largest refugee camp after Dadaab in Kenya, which holds nearly 360,000 people from Somalia.”
Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team
Bloomberg: U.N. Humanitarian Chief Laments the Deadlock in Syria Aid
Reuters: Search is on for Successor to Syria Peace Mediator Brahimi
NY Times: Children’s Art at Syria School, and Then a Bomb