Syrian military drop devastating 'barrel bombs' on city

Footage released online puports to show Syrian military helicopters dropping improvised "barrel bombs" on Darayya in south Damascus during the Geneva II peace summit

By Ruth Sherlock, Beirut8:52AM GMT 05 Feb 2014 "Footage has emerged showing the Syrian regime using explosive "barrel bombs" on civilian neighbourhoods, killing hundreds, while its representatives attended peace talks at Geneva. Filmed by activists in the southern Damascus suburb of Daraya, the ten minute video is a compilation of footage showing barrels, loaded with TNT, being dropped on the neighbourhood during the week the Geneva II conference was convened. The film is presented as a dystopian fairy tale. Against a dark backdrop the opening title reads 'Once upon a time: a few days ago. In a land far far away: Syria.' It begins with the camera, zoom fully extended, trained on a helicopter that is flying in the near distance. The helicopter releases two small black objects, dots against the blue sky. They dance in the air and as they get closer propeller like tails become visible. The barrels get larger, seeming to accelerate and plummet towards the ground. Related Articles UK to provide sanctuary for vulnerable Syrians 29 Jan 2014 Syria misses deadline on handover of chemical arsenal 05 Feb 2014 Police: UK volunteers going to Syria war will face arrest 26 Jan 2014 Moment toddler pulled from rubble in Syria 30 Jan 2014 Syria peace talks start on positive note 25 Jan 2014 The explosion is enormous, debris flying around a mushroom cloud of smoke, which, when it clears, reveals a crater where the block of apartments once was. To a backdrop of operatic music, the film shows bomb after bomb being dropped, reducing the neighbourhood to a wasteland of blood and chipped cement. "[These events] occurred between January 25 and January 31, 2014," says the film. "This is what happened in Daraya while the regime pretended to engage the peace talk". Much of the second half of the film, entitled "The People" is too distressing to watch. The background music does not drown out the very real screams of pain from victims half buried in the rubble as residents work to dig them out. It shows a litany of the dead and the half dead - children and adults, covered in dust and blood. In shock they lie motionless, bewildered on the rubble, that, just a few seconds earlier had been their bedroom, kitchen or living room. Over the last 18 months the Syrian regime has incorporated the home-made "barrel bombs" into the arsenal it conventionally uses to fight in the country's civil war. The bombs, made either of a cement or solid metal mood, are equipped with a push fanin the back and detonator on the top. The fuse ignites when it hits a target. It has no guiding system, and so falls randomly once released from the helicopter, creating craters two or three meters deep on impact. It is stuffed with TNT, and petrol - which is designed to set fire to a wider area. Chunks of steel are added that shred into hot shrapnel upon impact. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, a London based group, estimated in late 2012 that at least 1200 civilians have been killed. When, at the Geneva II talks, reporters asked Walid Muallem, the Syrian foreign minister if his government was using barrel bombs, he said: "I want to give you a simple response. Do you want [us] to defend our people by sending SMS messages?" The use of barrel bombs has been widespread across the country. On Tuesday, the Syrian opposition National Coalition said the regime had dropped a bomb on the Ottoman Bin Affan mosque in Aleppo which was being used as a school. Almost the entire class, 15 boys, died in the attack. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, issued a statement on Tuesday night saying the regime's barrel bombing of Aleppo is its "latest barbaric act" and "reminds the world of its true colours." "While the opposition and the international community are focused on ending the war, as outlined in the Geneva communiqué," Mr Kerry said, "The regime is single-mindedly focused on inflicting further destruction to strengthen its hand on the battlefield and undermining hopes for the success of the Geneva II process.""