Baladi News (Omar al-Hassan)
Instead of barrel bombs that were devised in 2013, Syrian regime helicopters dropped an unprecedented type of weapons, called explosive hoses, over al-Manasher area near Breij in Aleppo northern countryside on Saturday.
In pictures posted by activists in Aleppo, each hose appears to consist of several segments connected to each with joints, which show Russian inscriptions, to form a 100-meters long bomb. The well tightened hoses are stuffed with huge amounts of highly explosive materials and equipped with valves and detonators.
Despite their less destructive action compared to barrel bombs, these hoses can kill dozens if they are dropped on areas crowded with civilians.
Using such hoses is not a new idea, but what raises great concerns is resorting to them as a weapon against civilians because of their high content of explosives that are classified as highly effective detonating materials. They work on the same principle of hoses called UR-67, which were previously used by the regime in Damascus countryside to clear areas of mines and destroy buildings.
It is worth mentioning that Syrian regime helicopters recently waged a fierce campaign against the liberated areas of Aleppo city and countryside, dropping hundreds of barrel bombs against civilian areas, which resulted in hundreds of casualties and huge damages to residential buildings.