Five civilians were killed when the Syrian regime bombed the town of Darrat Azza on December 17, 2023. Darrat Azza is part of an area held by rebels opposed to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Among the dead are a pregnant woman and a child. Our Observers on the ground say that the bombing was intense and that it deliberately targeted civilians.
People began to hear the bombs fall around 5pm on December 17 in the town of Darrat Azza, an area to the east of Aleppo that is controlled by rebels opposed to the Syrian regime.
A petrol station as well as a number of small businesses were targeted and hit.
'Because of the intensity of the strikes, our teams weren’t able to move rapidly to help the injured'
Five people died in the bombing, all of them civilians. One of the people killed was a woman pregnant with twins. Our team spoke to several aid workers with the Syrian White Helmets, also known as the Syrian Civil Defence, who requested anonymity. They told us how the bombing unfolded.
The pregnant woman died in the eastern part of the city. She was in a car with a man. Their vehicle was hit with shrapnel and they both died instantly [...] On that day, no military targets were hit. As usual, they bombed the town in a random fashion.
The White Helmets also reported that five people were hospitalised with injuries and remained in a critical condition.
'Here, no roof and no wall can protect us'
Mazen (not his real name) is from Darrat Azza. He and his family were forced to flee their home during the bombing:
We had to leave home for four hours. Thanks to God, we are alive but it was a horrible day for us residents of Darrat Azza. It happens all the time but that doesn’t mean that it is normal to target civilians. Here, no roof and no wall can protect us.
'This bombing is a way for Assad’s soldiers to retaliate against civilians'
Our team spoke to an expert in the Syrian conflict, who uses the handle QalaatM on X but otherwise remains anonymous. He says that this bombing campaign is a response to a raid by rebel troops on the town of Latakia.
This is typical of Assad’s forces – they retaliate on civilians by randomly shelling a city with heavy artillery, with the aim of creating enough pressure on the rebels that they will stop their raids. For example, after rebels attacked a military college in Homs last October, the regime responded by heavily bombing Darrat Azza.
The town of Darrat Azza is near the frontlines. It is one of the towns under rebel control that is nearest the regime. According to members of the White Helmets who spoke to our team, the area – which is often bombed – was hit extra hard this Sunday.
The town was heavily bombed back in October. The regime targets Darrat Azza nearly every day. Some rockets hit in town, others on the periphery. Anxiety and fear reign here. However, this Sunday, the strikes were even more intense than usual.
On the map below, you can see that the town of Darrat Azza, outlined in pink, is only located a few kilometres from Aleppo, which is outlined in green. While the Assad regime carries out the most strikes on Idlib, considered the capital of the Syrian rebellion, they also frequently target Darrat Azza.
QalaatM says that the city was primarily hit with Russian-made Grad rockets.
In total, the city of Darrat Azza was hit with 40 projectiles and rockets in the space of an hour and a half.
