Report methodology
The report draws upon a field-visit by SNHR member in Damascus city “Dr. Majd al Masri”. Dr. Majd met and treated a number of the injured who fell in the bombing, in addition to seeing and examining the dead bodies.
Details
On Friday, June 16, 2014, Syrian regime forces targeted, seemingly deliberately, a co-wedding for two of the neighborhood’s youngsters, as two heavy mortar shells fell in the place where the wedding was taking place, killing eight of the wedding’s attendants. Also, more than 40 others were injured. The shelling was simultaneous with another shelling on the neighborhood using the B10 in the public road to terrify the residents. Also, the sniper stationing above the Special Units building opened fire randomly on the neighborhoods buildings.
Investigations showed that Syrian regime forces were completely aware of the time and place of the wedding, so they targeted the area to kill and wound as many residents as possible. It should be noted that Syrian regime forces targeted another wedding on Thursday, June 15, where some people were wounded with no victims recorded.
It seems that these incidents are to terrify and terrorize the neighborhood residents in order to coerce them into agreeing to the settlement and truce on the Syrian regime’s terms.
“Dr. Majd al Masri”, SNHR member, was in al Qaboun neighborhood that day and visited the incident location:
“I headed on Friday afternoon to al Qaboun neighborhood along with some friends. On our way there, I saw a car with a “Arada Shamiya” (A group that performs a folklore dance). We learned later that the group was headed for a wedding for two of the neighborhood’s youths near the Grand Mosque. On my way out of the neighborhood with the sunset, I saw a number of cars heading for the Grand Mosque area, and I saw tens of people gathering and they were in panic. I asked, and was told that the wedding area was shelled with mortar shells. It was revealed later that the shells were fired from the branch of the Special Units that is on the borders of al Qaboun neighborhood. After a while, we heard another explosion, which, we found out later, was from another shell that fell in the same place. I headed for the makeshift hospital, and tens of people were outside the hospital. I went inside and the scene was horrifying. Blood all over the ground, and on the walls, and on the beds. A number of victims were covered in blood, and others were in pain from the injuries. I counted myself more than 15 wounded on the beds and on the floor.”