Wednesday noon, 18 October 2013, government forces opened fire randomly against unarmed civilians while they were trying to flee from Bait Saham area which is located in southern Damascus
The report methodology relies on the investigation carried out by SNHR’s team in cooperation with activists and eyewitnesses. The report includes two eyewitnesses’ accounts that is recorded in the report in addition to news and pictures received by SNHR through cooperative activists from the city.
Abu Omar Al Ghoutani, a resident of Bait Saham, witnessed the incident, and he is still alive. He told SNHR his testimony after we approached him:
“Wednesday about 12:30 pm, the committee entered and promised that they would secure safe and humanitarian passage that can be used to flee the siege. The committee got out first, after it guaranteed thousands of civilians on the entrance of the town securities that they will be safe if they get out with the committee. The committee walked in front of the group. When the committee passed the checkpoint which was in front of the town the machine guns and the snipers shot fire against civilians. Here, martyrs and the injured had fallen down, and the regime forces pulled some of those martyrs and injured. Confusion rose among the civilians so they fled to the gardens area in Bait Saham town these gardens are located on Damascus International airport road. When they moved toward the gardens the snipers and the machines guns that were stationed on the high buildings in the neighboring area “Garamana” and the snipers on the Syrian school in Aqraba gardens, opened fire intensively against civilians and this is how the massacre was perpetrated
