Shelling Crowded Markets at Rush Hour
I- Introduction:
Douma city is the largest district in rebel-held eastern Ghouta, which has been subjected to crippling siege by pro-regime forces since October 2013. Life conditions have drastically deteriorated as regime forces block the entry of civilians, food and medical supplies.
This report documents a regime aerial attack using eight rockets that hit two marketplaces and a residential neighborhood on 19 August 2015.
This report was prepared by SNHR through its field researcher Dr. Majd Dalati and researcher Huda Al Ali, in coordination with the legal office of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.
Following the airstrikes, Dr. Majd Dalati of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) conducted several surgeries on the injured and communicated with victims’ families. He took photos and videos to document details, including names, of all the victims.
Out of safety concerns, we changed the names of the witnesses and victims Dr. Dalati interviewed; however, we have preserved the original information in our archives. We explained the goal of the interviews to the witnesses and were granted their consent to use the information they provide in this report. We verified the photos and videos we had received, and we kept copies of all the video clips and images used in this report.