Documenting the targeting of Ber Mahli village in Aleppo suburbs where 64 civilians were killed
First: Geographic Location and Military Control
Ber Mahli village is located about 10 kilometers east of Sirrean town, and 35 kilometers away from Ain Al-Arab “Koubani”. The village is under Daesh’s control. However, YPG forces are trying to take over the village. It is populated by 1000 people approximately. Most of the houses are built from mud and people work in agriculture and fishery as the village is across Euphrates River.
Sirrean town which is located 10 kilometers southeast of the village of Ber Mahli
Second: Description of the Incident
On 30 April at approximately 12:00 AM, the night before Friday 1 May, 2015, the international coalition warplanes carried out six consecutive airstrikes approximately at 12 AM where it used more than one missile in some of the airstrikes that targeted Ber Mahli village, which is administratively affiliated to Sirrean city in eastern Aleppo suburbs. Some of the residents told us that nine missiles were fired in about 30 minutes. According to the residents, there are only Daesh fighters in the village but there aren’t any Daesh bases.
SNHR documentation team documented the death of 64 civilians including 31 children and 19 women. All the victims were documented by full name and age. Also, 30 others were wounded while a large number of houses were completely destroyed. It should be noted that this is a primary toll considering the difficulty to communicate with the village and the fact that most of the village residents fled after the massacre. Additionally, many people are still missing as the search for dead bodies is still going on.
Fadel Abdulghani, head of SNHR, says:
“We published many reports on the targeting of civilians by the international coalition forces. Despite all the efforts made to avoid this, this incident indicates a blatant disrespect for the lives of innocents civilians. The people responsible for this crime should be held accountable which would be a clear message to their associates and commanders.”