Syria: armed opposition group committing war crimes in Aleppo – new evidence

The Aleppo Conquest armed groups may have used chemical weapons, as well as ‘hell cannon’ gas canister munitions.

 ‘Sheikh Maqsoud is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis’ ...

Armed groups surrounding the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud district of Aleppo city have repeatedly carried out indiscriminate attacks – possibly including with chemical weapons – that have struck civilian homes, markets and mosques, killing and injuring civilians, and have displayed a shameful disregard for human life, said Amnesty International today.

Two of the armed groups conducting attacks on Sheikh Maqsoud – Ahrar al Sham and Army of Islam – have sent representatives to the UN-brokered negotiations on Syria in Geneva, while the others have approved delegates to represent them at the talks.

There are around 30,000 civilians living in Sheikh Maqsoud, a district controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) forces, and the area has come under sustained attack from opposition armed groups who control areas to the north, east and west of the district.

Among the weapons used by the armed groups are unguided projectiles which cannot be accurately aimed at specific targets, including home-made “Hamim” rockets and projectiles fitted with gas canisters known as “hell cannons”.

Amnesty has obtained the names of at least 83 civilians, including 30 children, who were killed by attacks in Sheikh Maqsoud between February and April. More than 700 civilians were also injured, according to the local field hospital. Video evidence seen by Amnesty shows artillery shelling, and rocket and mortar attacks carried out by the Fatah Halab (Aleppo Conquest) coalition of armed groups in the area, targeting YPG forces.

However, civilians have borne the brunt. Satellite imagery, obtained by Amnesty and corroborated by residents, shows destroyed and badly-damaged houses in a residential street in the western part of Sheikh Maqsoud, more than 800 metres away from the frontline........http://kurdishdailynews.org/2016/05/14/syria-armed-opposition-group-committing-war-crimes-in-aleppo-new-evidence/
14/5/16
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