Assad’s Barrel Bombs Kill 15 Children in A Mosque in Aleppo

Press Statement

Khalid Saleh

Syrian Coalition Media Office President

Istanbul, Turkey

February 4, 2014

Today afternoon, Assad’s forces turned a class of children taking a lesson in a mosque into a scene of horrifying carnage. At least 15 boys were killed in a matter of seconds when a barrel bomb was dropped on the Ottoman Bin Affan mosque, in Masaken Hanano district, Aleppo.

The mosque was being used as a school after all schools in the area were either hit or brimming with internally displaced civilians. Giving up on learning was not an option for these children, but the hatred of the Assad regime was blind enough to deprive them not only from their right to education but also from their right to live.

The attack comes as Assad’s forces mount a campaign of escalated violence on the city of Aleppo. Assad’s air force even targeted people running away from the shelling towards the borders with Turkey.

This attack proves once more that the Assad regime does not care about ending the suffering of the Syrian people. The international community has kept silent long enough. It is time to speak up. It is time to act.

Since the first day of Geneva II

Number of barrel bombs dropped: more than 300

Number of victims: 1246

Number of internally displaced people (only in Aleppo): more than 5.000

We ask for Mercy for our martyrs, health for our wounded, and freedom for our detainees.

Long live Syria and its people, free and with honor.